Removed from descending & sensory inputs, the isolated spinal cord produces motoneuron output representing the population-encoded actions of spinal neurons. Bath application of pharmacological agents gives rise to various rhythmic motor patterns that differ in burst shape & frequency. These patterns include 5HT-induced locomotor-like activity, bicuculline & strychnine (bic/strych)-induced synchronous bursting, & other unique bursting patterns (Dougherty et al 2001 SFN Abst). We are using MATLAB technical computing software to conduct frequency- and time-domain analyses on ventral root recordings of the aforementioned induced motor patterns. Our goals are to quantitatively characterize & distinguish between various motor outputs, as well as to develop methods to automatically determine the presence & quality of bursting activity. We have evaluated burst variability & power spectra to extract pertinent features from the various waveforms. Interestingly, we have found that medium-frequency (12-200Hz) spectra ...