Biomechanics ePosters

Axial proprioceptive sensory feedback plays a crucial role in modulating locomotion, enabling vertebrates to dynamically adjust motor output in response to body movements and environmental forces. In this study, we present a spiking neuromechanical model of the zebrafish, focusing on how proprioceptive signals from…

When we are able to prepare in advance of a movement, the subsequent movements generally get better. Motor cortical activity during preparation has been studied extensively, showing clear relationships between the neural population state achieved during preparation and the parameters of the subsequent self-initiated…

The neural control of movement is a fundamental aspect of understanding how the nervous system coordinate and regulate motor behavior. Procedural safety is a critical concern for movement control, especially for online tasks in high-dimensional control spaces. Current safe exploration algorithms exhibit inefficiency…

Understanding the neuromechanical principles of collective motor behaviors is a longstanding question at the intersection between neuroscience, motor control and fluid mechanics. Striking examples of these behaviors include the patterns formed by fishes swimming or birds flying in schooling formations. What is the…

Computational models have been seminal in expanding our understanding of how neural, biomechanical, or physical elements can give rise to behavior. With the forthcoming emergence of nearly complete connectomes of the central nervous system, musculature, and biomechanics of Drosophila, it is only now possible to…

One of the central questions in motor neuroscience is how the population of motor cortical neurons control voluntary movement. Much of our current understanding of this question is based on so-called center-out reaching tasks that involve reaching from a single start location to various spatial targets --- a situation…

Nervous system enables flexible and adaptive control of behavior, allowing us to modify actions according to task demands. The associated neural population activity is often characterized by low-dimensional manifolds, orthogonal null and potent spaces, and rotations in neural trajectories. These features are…

To study how motor circuits control bodies in robust, adaptive, and flexible ways, we often break down the complex control system into individual components to be studied in isolation. However, it is increasingly recognized that we need to consider biomechanically realistic models when interpreting the neural…

Brain-scale neural circuits transform visual input into discrete movements with appropriate speed, vigor, and duration. Yet, single-cell resolution and mechanistic characterization of such circuits in vertebrates have been elusive, largely due to the vast number of neurons and complexity of the mammalian brain. The…

The study of animal locomotion and neuromechanical control offers valuable insights for advancing research in neuroscience, biomechanics, and robotics. We have developed FARMS (Framework for Animal and Robot Modeling and Simulation), an open-source, interdisciplinary framework, designed to facilitate access to…

Throughout evolution the brain has optimized the control of the body across species, and in order to understand the relationship between brain and body it is imperative that we model the sensorimotor transformations underlying embodied control. As part of a larger coordinated effort, we are in the process of…

Texture is a ubiquitous tactile feature encompassing multiple dimensions of surface properties, including coarseness and slipperiness. In the rodent whisker system – a model for active tactile exploration with sensitivity comparable to the primate fingertip – texture sensing occurs through whisking against or dragging…

Most walking animals can maintain motor control after limb injury or amputation, where coordinating movements of a drastically altered body requires dynamic interactions between the nervous system, the biomechanics of the body, and the physical environment. Until recently, it has been challenging to link neural and…

Computational biomechanical models have been essential in understanding the interplay between neurons, biomechanics, and physical environments. The salamander Pleurodeles waltl is one important model organism for studying neuromechanics behind amphibious locomotion with regeneration capabilities. However, previous…

Sensory feature maps are a key building block in the information-processing infrastructure of the nervous system. However, our understanding of how such maps interface with motor circuits to produce behavior at rapid timescales remains poor. Here, we examine this problem through the lens of flight control in…

Synchronous movements of the entire face, from grimacing to chewing, offer significant insights into internal states. Mice, with discernible facial responses and evolutionarily conserved mammalian facial movement control circuits, provide an ideal model to unravel the link between facial movement and internal…

During development, neural circuits are shaped continuously as we learn to control our bodies, with the goal of producing neural dynamics that enable the rich repertoire of behaviors we perform with our limbs. However, the nature of the teaching signal underlying this normative learning process remains elusive. Here,…

The Ruhr Hand Motion Catalog of Human Center-Out Transport Trajectories [1] is a compilation of three-dimensional task-space motion data simultaneously measured by two motion tracking systems. The first one, an optical motion capture system, provided robust reference data. The second recording system consisted of a…

Locomotion involves the precise coordination of different body parts. On structured surfaces, animals additionally have to adapt their gait to properties of the environment. To study the dynamical principles of locomotor learning in novel environments, we trained mice to walk on a motorized treadmill with evenly…

Low-intensity ultrasound neuromodulation is a rapidly emerging technology due to its non-invasiveness and millimeter-scale precision. Despite numerous experimental settings demonstrating that ultrasonic waves can modulate the neural activity in different brain areas, the interaction between the ultrasonic source and…

For motor control, the activities of local neural nets need to be coordinated, which can be attained via direct synaptic connections. Phylogenetically, the main purpose of the brain is the active interaction with the environment which suggests the presence of an alternative neural coordination mechanism, namely one…

The upper limbs are essential for performing everyday tasks that require a wide range of motion and precise coordination. Planning and timing are crucial to achieve coordinated movement. Sensory information about the target and current body state is critical, as is the integration of prior experience represented by…

Excessive capillary flow heterogeneity results in a microcirculatory dysfunction and hinders optimal oxygen delivery into central nervous system (CNS). Irregularities in cellular flow, like dynamic stalls in capillaries is a potential origin of this heterogeneity. Because under systemic inflammatory conditions…

Ischemic stroke results in neuroinflammation. While several studies addressed its molecular mechanism, we know less about the contribution of physical cues to stroke pathomechanism. In the present work, we aimed to address the significance of nervous tissue cytoskeleton rearrangements and changes in its mechanical…