Regeneration of functional synapses between individual recognizable neurons in the lamprey spinal cord

Science. 1985 Aug 23;229(4715):774-6. doi: 10.1126/science.2992085.

Abstract

In 4- to 5-year-old sea lamprey larvae that had recovered from complete transection of the spinal cord, pairs of giant interneurons on opposite sides of the scar were impaled with microelectrodes. In 4 of 30 pairs, stimulation of the caudal cell elicited a monosynaptic electrochemical excitatory postsynaptic potential in the rostral cell. Fifty percent of such pairs were synaptically linked in control lampreys without transections. These results show regeneration of functional synaptic connections between individual neurons in a vertebrate central nervous system.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Fishes / physiology*
  • Lampreys / physiology*
  • Nerve Regeneration*
  • Neural Conduction
  • Spinal Cord / cytology
  • Spinal Cord / physiology*
  • Synapses / physiology
  • Synaptic Transmission