The motor infrastructure: From ion channels to neuronal networks

The vertebrate motor system is equipped with a number of neuronal networks that underlie different patterns of behaviour, from simple protective reflexes to complex movements. The current challenge is to understand the intrinsic function of these networks: that is, the cellular basis of motor behaviour. In one vertebrate model system, the lamprey, it has been possible to make the connection between different subtypes of ion channels and transmitters and their roles at the cellular and network levels. It is therefore possible to link the role of certain genes or molecules to motor behaviour in this system.