Summary: nature neuroscience · volume 4 no 3 · march 2001 297
articles
Central pattern-generating networks produce the rhythmic motor
discharges that underlie many repetitive movements, such as
those in locomotion, respiration and feeding1. Synaptic inhibi-
tion is important in the organization of virtually all central pat-
tern generators. Alternation between functional antagonists
commonly occurs as a consequence of reciprocal inhibition2­4,
and in some cases, reciprocal inhibition provides the actual mech-
anism by which rhythmic motor patterns are produced5­11. In
many central pattern-generating networks, neuronal firing
depends on rebound from inhibition12­15, and modulation of
the strength of inhibitory synapses can produce dramatic changes
in the motor patterns produced16. The critical role of inhibitory
synapses in central pattern generating networks makes it crucial
to understand how their strengths are regulated, both during
development and throughout adult life.
Much effort has been spent on understanding how neuronal
activity regulates the strength of excitatory synapses. The regu-
lation of synaptic inhibition has received much less attention,

Source: Abbott, Laurence - Center for Neurobiology and Behavior & Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University

Collections: Biology and Medicine