Abstract: | Synaptic effects arising in the postsynaptic membrane during direct stimulation of single presynaptic fibers were investigated in experiments with parallel intracellular recording from giant reticulospinal axons and motoneurons of the river lamprey. Monosynaptic reticulospinal EPSPs were shown to consist of two components, electrical and chemical, differing in their time courses, amplitudes, sensitivities to calcium deficiency, and dynamic characteristics. One motoneuron may receive direct electrical inputs from several giant axons. Individual giant axons can act on motoneurons not only monosynaptically, but also through additional relays.I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 390–396, July–August, 1977. |