Neurons, Circuitry, and Plasticity in the Spinal Cord and Brainstem, Volume 1279 Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Series

The brain and the spinal cord, together, compose the central nervous system.  Only relatively recently has research shifted focus to consider the integral functions at the individual neuronal and network levels that are mediated by the spinal cord. In this volume, recent work is presented addressing developments in this emerging area.  Short reviews examine motor neuron synaptic plasticity, molecular signaling in motor circuits, advances in in vivo and in vitro imaging of spinal cord injury, inhibitory and excitatory locomotor programs, and mapping the circuitry of tactile and sensory functions, including nociception and pain relief. Collectively, these papers provide an overview of some of the most exciting topics in spinal cord research?spanning basic cellular mechanisms to translational approaches.

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Molecular, genetic, cellular, and network functions in the spinal cord and brainstem 1
Paul S. G. Stein

Neurotransmitters and synaptic components in the Merkel cell-neurite complex, a gentle-touch receptor 13
Srdjan Maksimovic, Yoshichika Baba and Ellen A. Lumpkin

Principles of interneuron development learned from Renshaw cells and the motoneuron recurrent inhibitory circuit 22 
Francisco J. Alvarez, Ana Benito-Gonzalez and Valerie C. Siembab

Dorsally derived spinal interneurons in locomotor circuits 32 
Anna Vallstedt and Klas Kullander

Neuronal correlates of the dominant role of GABAergic transmission in the developing mouse locomotor circuitry 43 
Lea Ziskind-Conhaim

GluA1 promotes the activity-dependent development of motor circuitry in the developing segmental spinal cord 54
Angela M. Jablonski and Robert G. Kalb

Optical imaging of the spontaneous depolarization wave in the mouse embryo: origins and pharmacological nature 60
Yoko Momose-Sato and Katsushige Sato

Imaging spinal neuron ensembles active during locomotion with genetically encoded calcium indicators 71
Christopher A. Hinckley and Samuel L. Pfaff

Glutamatergic reticulospinal neurons in the mouse: developmental origins, axon projections, and functional connectivity 80 
Marie-Claude Perreault and Joel G. Glover

Pre- and postsynaptic inhibitory control in the spinal cord dorsal horn 90 
Rita Bardoni, Tomonori Takazawa, Chi-Kun Tong, Papiya Choudhury, Gregory Scherrer and Amy B. MacDermott

Activity-dependent development of tactile and nociceptive spinal cord circuits 97
Stephanie C. Koch and Maria Fitzgerald

Force-sensitive afferents recruited during stance encode sensory depression in the contralateral swinging limb during locomotion 103 
Shawn Hochman, Heather Brant Hayes, Iris Speigel and Young-Hui Chang

Motor primitives and synergies in the spinal cord and after injury—the current state of play 114 
Simon F. Giszter and Corey B. Hart

A dual spinal cord lesion paradigm to study spinal locomotor plasticity in the cat 127 
Marina Martinez and Serge Rossignol

The effects of endocannabinoid signaling on network activity in developing and motor circuits 135
Peter Wenner

Hypoxia-induced phrenic long-term facilitation: emergent properties 143
Michael J. Devinney, Adrianne G. Huxtable, Nicole L. Nichols and Gordon S. Mitchell

Axon regeneration and exercise-dependent plasticity after spinal cord injury 154
John D. Houle and Marie-Pascale Côté

Accelerating locomotor recovery after incomplete spinal injury 164
Brian K. Hillen, James J. Abbas and Ranu Jung

Lea Ziskind-Conhaim is the editor of Neurons, Circuitry, and Plasticity in the Spinal Cord and Brainstem, Volume 1279, published by Wiley. Amy B. MacDermott is the editor of Neurons, Circuitry, and Plasticity in the Spinal Cord and Brainstem, Volume 1279, published by Wiley.