1. Motor unit and muscle action

- motor unit

- organization of muscles

- regulation of muscle contraction

- motor end plate

- muscle spindle

2. Basic motoric pathways

- stretch reflex

- flexion-withdrawal reflex

- modification of reflexes

Muscle action and reflexes: Motor unit and

control, reflex pathways

Motor

Output

(muscles)

Integration

(Interneurons)

Motor unit and control

Agrin KO:

- no correct innervation

- no postsynaptic differentiation

Mutual communication (nach Ruegg & Bixby, Trends Neurosci.

21:22-27(1998))

Regulation of synaptogenesis

(Julien, Trends Cell Biol. 7:243(1997))

Amyotrophic lateralsclerosis

(ALS)

(motor neuron disease)

Divorce?

1800s: Stimulation of Nervus vagus

decreases frequency of heart beat

1920s: soluble factor is released by

Nervus vagus, which slows down

heart beat (Otto Loewi)

Acetylcholin: „Vagusstoff“ released by the Nervus

vagus

First confirmation of chemical synaptic

transmission and discovery of first

neurotransmitter