Maintained Function of Foreign Synapses on Hyperinnervated Skeletal Muscle Fibres of the Rat

MAMMALIAN skeletal muscle fibres normally receive input from single nerve fibres only, but will accept additional innervation from a foreign nerve if the original nerve is cut 1,2 or anaesthetised 3 . We have been interested in the question of whether the extra innervation is repressed or displaced as the original innervation is re-established. Such synaptic repression has been suggested by Mark and collaborators 4,5 for lower vertebrates and has recently attracted great interest 6,7 .