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Role of the reticular formation in motor control. Study of some intrareticular mechanisms and functional properties of the reticulospinal system

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Abstract

Participation of the reticular formation and descending reticulospinal system in the motor control functions of the spinal cord is examined. The data indicate that the reticular formation may participate in the regulation of specific motor actions. This is shown by the results of experiments to analyze the properties of membranes of reticulospinal neurons and the principles of organization of cortico-reticular monosynaptic relays, and to the investigation of characteristics of responses of "ensembles" of reticular neurons in cats, and also by data obtained in a study of correlation of unit activity in the reticular formation with movements elaborated in rats. The functional role of differential characteristics of the reticular formation is discussed and prospects for future research into reticular membranous, neurochemical, and neuronal mechanisms as a step toward the understanding of reticular control of motor functions are described.

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Authors
  1. J. Pavlasek
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  2. M. Saling
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  3. P. Strauss
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Additional information

Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 637–651, September–October, 1984.

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Pavlasek, J., Saling, M. & Strauss, P. Role of the reticular formation in motor control. Study of some intrareticular mechanisms and functional properties of the reticulospinal system. Neurophysiology 16, 482–494 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052704

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052704

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