Control of Locomotion in a Lower Vertebrate, the Lamprey: Brainstem Command Systems and Spinal Cord Regeneration

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Abstract
SYNOPSIS. The lamprey, a lower vertebrate, has recently become a very useful model system for studying motor control, including the organization of neural networks, and for examining the relation between kinematic patterns and underlying neural mechanisms. This aquatic animal displays a number of interesting locomotor behaviors, including flexure reflexes, forward locomotion, backward locomotion, turning, withdrawal, and equilibrium reflexes. A valuable property of the lamprey preparation is that the nervous system survives under in vitro conditions for several days and generates well-coordinated locomotor activity that underlies some of the above behaviors. Thus, the neural control of basic locomotor behaviors can be studied in an isolated nervous system in which the ionic or pharmacological make-up of the bath can be altered and in which stable conditions are provided for intracellular recordings. In addition, recent data indicate that the lamprey preparation is a valuable model system for studies of axonal regeneration and recovery of locomotor function following spinal cord injury. This article will focus on three aspects of locomotor behavior in the lamprey: kinematics and motor activity of locomotor behaviors, descending control of locomotion, and regeneration of descending brainstem command pathways that initiate locomotion.

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