1. The effects of stimulating hindlimb extensor nerves (100‐200 ms trains, 100 Hz, < or = 2 times threshold) during the flexor and extensor phases of the locomotor step cycle were analysed in the decerebrate, paralysed cat during fictive locomotion evoked by stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region. 2. Stimulation during extension of either the medial gastrocnemius (MG), lateral gastrocnemius‐soleus (LGS) or plantaris (Pl) nerves was equally effective in increasing the duration and amplitude of electroneurogram (ENG) activity recorded in ipsilateral ankle, knee and hip extensor nerves. Enhancement of extensor ENG activity could be evoked with near threshold stimulation intensity and appeared within 10‐40 ms of the onset of ankle extensor nerve stimulation. Stimulation of anterior biceps during extension occasionally evoked a modest increase in the duration of activity of hip, knee and ankle extensors. Stimulation of quadriceps during extension enhanced the activity of proximal extensors and soleus, but inhibited other ankle extensors. 3. Selective activation of ankle extensor Ia spindle afferents by muscle stretch also enhanced ipsilateral extension. It is argued that both muscle spindle and tendon organ afferents can contribute to the increase in extensor nerve activity evoked by group I stimulation intensity during fictive locomotion. 4. During flexion, stimulation of either the MG, Pl or LGS nerves at group I strength terminated on‐going activity in ipsilateral flexors and initiated a burst of activity in ipsilateral hip, knee and ankle extensors, i.e. reset the step cycle to extension. 5. Low strength stimulation of the mixed muscle and cutaneous nerve innervating the plantar aspect of the foot produced extension enhancement and resetting similar to that evoked by group I muscle afferent stimulation. Stimulation of the cutaneous nerve supplying the dorsal aspect of the foot during extension enhanced extensor activity, and during flexion, enhanced the activity of flexors. 6. The effects reported here during fictive locomotion may also occur during overground locomotion with natural activation of group I muscle spindle and tendon organ afferents. Extensor spindle and tendon organ afferents may thus serve as an excitatory reflex system helping to shape the amplitude, duration and timing of ipsilateral extensor activity. Increased or unexpected activation of group I ankle extensor afferents or plantar foot afferents during locomotion could also compensate for increased loading of the limb.

1. This study examines the effects of electrical stimulation of hindlimb flexor nerves on the fictive locomotion pattern. Locomotion was initiated by stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region in the decerebrate paralysed cat and monitored by recording the electroneurogram from selected hindlimb flexor and extensor muscle nerves. Flexor nerves were stimulated using short trains (20-50 stimuli at 100 Hz) during either the flexor or the extensor phase of the fictive locomotor cycle. 2. Stimulation of tibialis anterior (TA), posterior biceps and semitendinosus (PBSt) or sartorius (Sart) nerves at 5 times threshold (T) during the flexor phase of the fictive locomotor cycle terminated on-going activity in flexor nerves and initiated activity in extensors. Thus, flexor nerve stimulation during flexion shortened the locomotor cycle by resetting to extension. The failure of lower intensity (2T) stimulation of PBSt or Sart nerves to reset the step cycle to extension suggests that group II afferents are responsible for these actions.Resetting evoked by 2 T stimulation of the TA nerve may be due to a high proportion of group II afferents with low electrical threshold. 3. During extension, stimulation of TA and PBSt nerves at 5Tdid not perturb the locomotor rhythm whereas Sart stimulation prolonged the locomotor cycle. 4. Stimulation of cutaneous or knee joint afferents failed to produce effects similar to those evoked by stimulation of flexor muscle nerves at group II strength. These findings are at odds with those obtained elsewhere in the acute spinal, DOPA fictive locomotion preparation. The possibility that group II resetting during fictive locomotion is not mediated by flexion reflex pathways but by previously unknown pathways released in the present preparation is discussed. 5. Since many of the flexor afferents recruited by 5T electrical stimulation are the lengthsensitive group II fibres, spindle secondaries may act to regulate the duration and onset of flexor and extensor activity during real locomotion. The resetting from flexion to extension also suggests that unexpected or enhanced activity of flexor secondaries during swing would promote a switch of the step cycle to stance.

No abstract

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been proposed as a potential source of neural cells for use in repairing brain lesions, but previous studies indicate a low rate of neuronal differentiation and have not provided definite evidence of neuronal phenotype. To test the neurogenic potential of human HSCs, we implanted CD34؉ HSCs from adult human bone marrow into lesions of the developing spinal cord in the chicken embryo and followed their differentiation by using immunohistochemistry, retrograde labeling, and electrophysiology. We find that human cells derived from the implanted population express the neuronal markers NeuN and MAP2 at substantially higher rates than previously reported. We also find that these cells exhibit neuronal cytoarchitecture, extend axons into the ventral roots or several segments in length within the spinal white matter, are decorated with synaptotagmin؉ and GABA؉ synaptic terminals, and exhibit active membrane properties and spontaneous synaptic potentials characteristic of functionally integrated neurons. Neuronal differentiation is accompanied by loss of CD34 expression. Careful examination with confocal microscopy reveals no signs of heterokaryons, and human cells never express a chicken-specific antigen, suggesting that fusion with host chicken cells is unlikely. We conclude that the microenvironment in the regenerating spinal cord of the chicken embryo stimulates substantial proportions of adult human HSCs to differentiate into full-fledged neurons. This may open new possibilities for a high-yield production of neurons from a patient's own bone marrow.bone marrow ͉ neurogenesis ͉ stem cell therapy