The recording of potentials from motoneurones with an intracellular electrode

Brock, L. G.; Coombs, J. S.; Eccles, John C.

doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1952.sp004759

Cited by 547 publications

(313 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Two consecutive presentations at that meeting reported the use of glass micropipettes for recording intracellular potentials from spinal motoneurons. The first, by Eccles, was entitled "The electrophysiological properties of the motoneuron" (Eccles, 1952) and the second, by Woodbury andHarry Patton (1918-2002), was entitled "Electrical activity of single spinal cord elements (Woodbury and Patton, 1952)." Although Eccles at that time was in the process of moving to the Australian National University, Canberra, AUS, the experiments he reported on had been carried out in Dunedin, NZL, with the initial results reported in the Proceedings of the University of Otaga Medical School (Brock et al, 1951a;Fig.…”

Section: Intracellular Recordings From Spinal Motoneurons (1949-1957)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“….)." Coombs' general design for microelectrode recording and dual cathode ray tube display is illustrated in Brock et al (1952). With the new amplifier and the perfection of sharp microelectrodes, Eccles was able to pursue the study of CNS excitatory and inhibitory synapses, which, as can be seen in these pages, was central to his subsequent scientific accomplishments.…”

Section: Intracellular Recordings From Spinal Motoneurons (1949-1957)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…. the recorded value would be lowered by all defects of the experiment due to injury of the neuron and leakage of current when the microelectrode fails to self-seal in the membrane" (p. 177 in Eccles, 1952). He proceeded to describe the spike component of the AP (rate of rise at least 500 V/s, overshoot of at least 35 mV, rate of decline of 250 V/s) and the "positive" afterpotential, which was later termed the AHP.…”

Section: Intracellular Recordings From Spinal Motoneurons (1949-1957)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…He proceeded to describe the spike component of the AP (rate of rise at least 500 V/s, overshoot of at least 35 mV, rate of decline of 250 V/s) and the "positive" afterpotential, which was later termed the AHP. He also described some excitatory and inhibitory synaptic responses (Eccles, 1952). Woodbury and Patton recorded from a number of different types of spinal cord neurons at various depths in the spinal cord, including the ventral horn (Woodbury and Patton, 1952).…”

Section: Intracellular Recordings From Spinal Motoneurons (1949-1957)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beginning at the end: Repetitive firing properties in the final common pathway

Brownstone

2006

Progress in Neurobiology

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Since the early 20th century, it has been recognized that motoneurons must fire repetitive trains of action potentials to produce muscle contraction. In 1932, Sir John Eccles, together with Hebbel Hoff, found that action potential spike trains in motor axons were produced by "rhythmic centres", which were within the motoneurons themselves. Two decades later, Eccles attended a Cold Spring Harbor Symposium in NY, USA entitled "The Neuron". Two of the many notable presentations at this symposium were juxtaposed: one by Eccles from the University of Otago, Dunedin, NZL, and the other by J. Walter Woodbury and Harry Patton from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Both presentations included data obtained using sharp microelectrodes to study the intracellularly recorded potentials of cat motoneurons. In this review, I discuss some of the events leading up to and surrounding this jointly accomplished advance and proceed to discussion of subsequent studies over 5+ decades that have made use of intracellular recordings from motoneurons to study their repetitive firing behavior. This begins with early descriptions of primary and secondary range firing, and continues to the discovery of dendritic persistent inward currents and their relation to plateau potentials, synaptic amplification, and motoneuronal firing. Following a brief description of the possible mechanisms underlying spike frequency adaptation, I discuss the modulation of repetitive firing properties during various motor behaviors. It has become increasingly clear that the central nervous system has exquisite control of the repetitive firing of motoneurons. Eccles' work laid the foundation for the present-day study of these processes.

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Section: Intracellular Recordings From Spinal Motoneurons (1949-1957)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intracellular Recordings From Spinal Motoneurons (1949-1957)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intracellular Recordings From Spinal Motoneurons (1949-1957)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intracellular Recordings From Spinal Motoneurons (1949-1957)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beginning at the end: Repetitive firing properties in the final common pathway

Brownstone

2006

Progress in Neurobiology

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“…Now it is generally considered necessary that a number of endings upon a neurone must be excited near-simultaneously in order to fire it. Brock, Coombs & Eccles (1952) have brought evidence that for anterior horn cells the minimum number is about ten. If we have primary nerve fibres, carrying trains of impulses at different rates, converging on a second-order neurone, only when a given number of pulses happen to coincide will the cell fire.…”

Section: Effect Of Stimulus Intensity Variations At the Characteristimentioning

confidence: 99%