Research Interests
My research interests center on motor control and sensorimotor integration
in the mammalian spinal cord. Using predominantly electrophysiological methods
we study spinal motoneurons, muscle stretch afferents, and their center synapses.
We are actively examining how these neurons and synapses respond soon and
long after peripheral nerve injury and after manipulations in the functional
relations between nerve and muscle. These studies are yielding insight into
factors that influence the function and dysfunction of sensorimotor circuits
in adult animals. In addition we are studying activity patterns among populations
of motoneurons recruited during movement in order to infer strategies and
mechanisms used by the central nervous system to control movement. Ongoing
collaborative efforts involve studies in motoneuron disease, activity dependence
of synaptic function, and neurotransmitter receptor expression.
See also: Circuit Plasticity
Selected Publications
Seburn KL, Cope TC (1998)
Short-Term afference axotomy increases both strength and depression at Ia-motoneuron
synapses in rat. J Neurosci 18:1142-1147.
Sokoloff AJ, Siegel, SG,
Cope TC (1999) Recruitment order among motoneurons from different motor nuclei.
J Neurophysiol 81:2485-2492.
Alvarez FJ, Fyffe REW, Dewey
DE, Haftel VK, Cope TC (2000) Factors regulating AMPA-type glutamate receptor
subunit changes induced by sciatic nerve injury in rats. J Comp Neurol 426:229-242.
Abelew TA, Cope TC, Nichols
TR (2000) Local loss of proprioception results in disruption of interjoint
coordination during locomotion in the cat. J Neurophysiol 84:2709-2714.
Prather JF, Powers RK, Cope
TC (2001) Amplification of synaptic effects on motoneuron firing rate. J
Neurophysiol 85:43-53.
Haftel VK, Prather JF, Heckman
CJ, Cope TC (2001) Recruitment of cat motoneurons in the absence of homonymous
afferent feedback. J Neurophysiol 86:616-628.
Prather JF, Clark BD, Cope
TC (2002) Firing rate modulation is indistinguishable among motoneurons activated
by cutaneous and muscle receptor afferents in the decerebrate cat. J Neurophysiol
88:1867-1879.
Huyghues-Despointes CM,
Cope TC, Nichols TR (2003) Intrinsic properties and reflex compensation in
reinnervated triceps surae muscles of the cat: effect of movement history.
J Neurophysiol 90:1537-1546.
Haftel VK, Bichler EK, Nichols
TR, Pinter MJ, Cope TC (2004) Movement reduces the dynamic response of muscle
spindle afferents and motoneuron synaptic potentials in rat. J Neurophysiol
91:2164-2171.
Carrasco DI, Rich MM, Wang
Q, Cope TC, Pinter MJ. (2004) Activity-driven synaptic and axonal degeneration
in canine motor neuron disease. J Neurophysiol. 92(2):1175-1181.
Wang X, Li Y, Engisch KL,
Nakanishi ST, Dodson SE, Miller GW, Cope TC, Pinter MJ, Rich MM (2005) Activity-dependent
presynaptic regulation of quantal size at the mammalian neuromuscular junction
in vivo. J Neurosci 25:343-351.
Nakanishi ST, Cope TC, Rich
MM, Carrasco DI, Pinter MJ (2005) Regulation of motoneuron excitability via
motor endplate acetylcholine receptor activation. J Neurosci 25:2226-2232.
Haftel VK, Bichler EK, Wang
QB, Prather JR, Pinter MJ, Cope TC (2005) Central suppression of regenerated
proprioceptive afferents. J Neurosci 25:4733-4742. |
