Activity-Dependent Synaptic Plasticity and the Patterning of Hemisegmental Spinal Cord Network Activity

Short-term synaptic plasticity is a ubiquitous feature of nervous systems. It has been studied for decades at the level of single synapses. However, little is still known of its role in patterning network outputs. We have used experimental and computational analyses to examine the role of short-term plasticity in a rhythmic spinal cord locomotor network, the hemisegmental network in the lamprey. We have directly examined the activity-dependent plasticity of specific types of network synapse and the effects of manipulating these properties on the rhythmic network output. We have also examined these effects in computer simulations based on experimental data. The results suggest that activity-dependent plasticity could act as a burst-terminating factor to influence the patterning of the hemisegmental network output.