Sensorimotor integration in the lamprey locomotor system.

The locomotor movements of vertebrates are controlled by rhythm-generating networks in the spinal cord. These circuits are under modulatory influence from different sources, of both supraspinal, propriospinal and sensory origin. This paper reviews the neuronal mechanisms underlying swimming movements in the lamprey, the CNS of which provides a convenient model system for detailed investigations of the cellular bases for vertebrate locomotor behaviour, and which can be studied under in vitro conditions. The principal organization of the spinal, segmental network responsible for the generation of the rhythm, intrinsic membrane properties of importance for burst activity, as well as different mechanisms for modulation of the network activity including its sensory control, will be briefly described. The principles for coordination between segments during locomotion will also be shortly described.