You can use the Animation Layer buttons to mute, solo, and lock individual animation layers. When you mute a layer, its keyframes do not affect the result animation. Soloing a layer is a quick way to mute other layers. Locking a layer keeps it from receiving keyframes. Managing layers in this way affects the result animation and your workflow.
You can also turn a layer’s Mute, Solo, and Lock properties on and off from the Properties window, or from the Properties pan in the FCurves window.
When you solo one or more animation layers, the Mute option for all the other layers is automatically activated, so that only the animation from the soloed layers is played back.
The layer is locked and can not receive keyframes. When a layer is locked, its name displays in italics.