Plasticity of Motoneuronal Connections (Restorative Neurology, Vol 5)

This book focusses on a single nerve cell - the motoneuron, and includes the muscle and the spinal circuitry involved in spinal motor programming. The volume constitutes contributions from outstanding specialists who were eager to contribute to an overall view of the peripheral motor system. Accordingly, the articles cover a wide range, including myogenesis and implantation of myogenic cells, plasticity and reinnervation of individual endplates, the motor unit, formation and functional plasticity of Ia and other afferents' connections to the motoneuron, and the circuitry responsible for spinal locomotion. Finally there are some new aspects of rehabilitation in patients with spinal cord injuries, which have resulted from the recent discovery that the isolated spinal cord in the mammal is capable of learning. The book is an excellent collection of representative articles from many different fields which nevertheless focus around the motoneuron. To assist non-experts in the fields, the articles are grouped into sections, and short introductions point out new aspects and apparently controversial results or conflicting interpretations which need to be solved in the future.