| First Author | Mendelsohn AI | Year | 2015 |
| Journal | Neuron | Volume | 87 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 111-23 |
| PubMed ID | 26094608 | Mgi Jnum | J:250396 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6099459 | Doi | 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.05.045 |
| Citation | Mendelsohn AI, et al. (2015) Activity Regulates the Incidence of Heteronymous Sensory-Motor Connections. Neuron 87(1):111-23 |
| abstractText | The construction of spinal sensory-motor circuits involves the selection of appropriate synaptic partners and the allocation of precise synaptic input densities. Many aspects of spinal sensory-motor selectivity appear to be preserved when peripheral sensory activation is blocked, which has led to a view that sensory-motor circuits are assembled in an activity-independent manner. Yet it remains unclear whether activity-dependent refinement has a role in the establishment of connections between sensory afferents and those motor pools that have synergistic biomechanical functions. We show here that genetically abolishing central sensory-motor neurotransmission leads to a selective enhancement in the number and density of such "heteronymous" connections, whereas other aspects of sensory-motor connectivity are preserved. Spike-timing-dependent synaptic refinement represents one possible mechanism for the changes in connectivity observed after activity blockade. Our findings therefore reveal that sensory activity does have a limited and selective role in the establishment of patterned monosynaptic sensory-motor connections. |
