1998/11/01 by Jean‐René Cazalets, Sandrine S. Bertrand, Youssef Sqalli-Houssaini +1 · 2 citations
Neuroscience · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Psychology · Chemistry · Medicine · #Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research #Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications #Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior #GABAergic #Spinal cord #Muscimol #Locomotor activity #Neuroscience #Lumbar #Lumbar Spinal Cord #GABAA receptor #Baclofen #Chemistry #Biology #Inhibitory postsynaptic potential #Receptor #Agonist #Anatomy #Medicine #Pharmacology #Internal medicine
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb09047.x
openalex publication_date 1998/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We studied the GABAergic control of the spinal locomotor network using an isolated brain stem/spinal cord from newborn rats, in which locomotor-like activity was recorded. We demonstrate that endogenously released GABA controls the locomotor network, by decreasing or completely abolishing all locomotor-like activity. At first, we investigated the role played by GABA in the control of the locomotor period. By separately superfusing various compartments of the lumbar cord, we identified the targets of GABA. When bath-applied on the upper lumbar segments (L1/L2), GABA or its agonists (muscimol, baclofen) modulated the locomotor period, whereas it had no effects when bath-applied on the caudal lumbar cord (L3/L6). In the second step we studied how GABA may presynaptically control the locomotor drive arising from the locomotor network located in L1/L2. By use of the partitioned spinal cord, intracellular recordings from the caudal pool motoneurons (L4/L5) were performed, while initiating locomotor-like activity in L1/L2. We found that GABA or its agonists decreased the monosynaptic locomotor drive that the motoneurons received from the L1/L2 network, and we found a presynaptic effect exerted through the activation of GABAB receptors. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the role played by GABA at various levels in the control of the locomotor network in mammals.