Renshaw Cell - Discovery

Discovery

The concept of the Renshaw cells was postulated by B. Renshaw, when it was discovered that with antidromic signals from a motor neuron running collaterally back via the ventral horn into the spinal cord, there were interneurons firing with a high frequency, resulting in inhibition. Later work by Eccles et al., provided evidence that these interneurones, which they called “Renshaw Cells,” are stimulated by acetylcholine from motor neurons. Previous work by Renshaw and Lloyd had show that this antidromic inhibition resembled direct inhibition from spinal nerves but resulted in relatively longer inhibition of 40-50msec (compared to 15msec). The stimulation of the antidromic nerve fiber also resulted in action potentials of the central part of the motoneurones that would generate the original impulse, along with hyperpolarization of other groups of motor neurons. In the event where the initial stimulation of the motoneuron originated in the spinal track, these impulses occurred after the initial stimulation, and where the Renshaw cell spike occurred during the declining phase of the initial motoneuron soma spike had thus giving an indication of the source and sequence of stimulation of the Renshaw cell.