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Morphological and Physiological Effects of Axotomy on Cat Abducens Motoneurons

  • Conference paper
Lesion-Induced Neuronal Plasticity in Sensorimotor Systems

Part of the book series: Proceedings in Life Sciences ((LIFE SCIENCES))

Abstract

In order to better understand the mechanisms underlying trophic relationships between pre- and postsynaptic elements in respect to neuronal recognition and specificity, the response of mature neurons to axonal section and/or injury is a question of basic importance. There have been many metabolic, anatomic and electrophysiological reviews of injured neurons, which have described specific features of the cellular reaction to axotomy as well as alterations in synaptic transmission (Cragg 1970; Lieberman 1971; Matthews and Nelson 1975; Kuno 1976; Purves and Lichtman 1978; Purves and Noja 1978). The cat abducens nucleus offers an unparalleled substrate in the vertebrate for correlative physiological and ultrastructural studies because its afferent organization is well understood and the functional activity of its constituent neurons during eye movement have been discussed in detail (Baker and McCrea 1979). The morphological and physiological integrity of abducens motoneurons following axotomy and during reinnervation are of interest because these cells are representative cranial motoneurons, and as such they may be compared to prior work on spinal and hypoglossal motoneurons in order to identify general, as opposed to unique, properties of injured cells. The present study has assessed the synaptic and electrophysiological properties of abducens motoneurons including their morphology following axotomy. In addition, physiological excitability and functional synaptic transmission have been examined in the alert behaving cat and correlated with the above observations to further specify the truly “adaptive” features of axotomy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, New York University Medical Center, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    R. McCrea

Authors
  1. R. Baker
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  2. J. Delgado-Garcia
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  3. R. McCrea
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universität Bremen, Bibliothekstraße, 2800, Bremen 33, Germany

    Hans Flohr

  2. Institut für Hirnforschung, Universität Zürich, August-Forel-Straße 1, 8029, Zürich, Switzerland

    Wolfgang Precht

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© 1981 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Baker, R., Delgado-Garcia, J., McCrea, R. (1981). Morphological and Physiological Effects of Axotomy on Cat Abducens Motoneurons. In: Flohr, H., Precht, W. (eds) Lesion-Induced Neuronal Plasticity in Sensorimotor Systems. Proceedings in Life Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68074-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68074-8_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68076-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68074-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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