Summary
Bipolar silver electrodes were implanted into eight forelimb muscles of normal and deafferented newts. In freely moving animals muscle potentials were recorded with the aid of a Hellige EEG apparatus combined with a set of transistorized preamplifiers of high input impedance. The steps, as the animals lifted up and put down the limb, were electrically signalled. The myograms revealed a delicate interaction of antagonistic muscle groups. The normal activity pattern of muscles was maintained following deafferentation of one or both forelimbs, although irregularities in placing the deafferented limb were apparent. It was concluded that the spinal cord is capable of securing the accurately timed activity of agonistic and antagonistic limb muscles without receiving afferent information from the moving limb.
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Székely, G., Czéh, G. & Vöeös, G. The activity pattern of limb muscles in freely moving normal and deafferented newts. Exp Brain Res 9, 53–62 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235451
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235451