Topic: interlimb coordination

Complex motor behaviors involve the precise coordination of different body parts. While motor coordination has been extensively studied in expert animals, the behavioral and neural processes involved in its emergence through learning are still not well understood. To answer this question, we combined longitudinal behavioral analyses with population recordings from the cerebellum, which is a key region for movement coordination and motor learning. We trained mice to walk on a motorized runged treadmill over multiple days while Ca2+-activity was recorded from cerebellar molecular layer interneur

Quadrupedal locomotion arises from a complex interplay between spinal neuronal circuits, descending brain signals, musculoskeletal interactions, and sensory feedback, enabling adaptive speed and terrain dependent gait transitions. However, the underlying neural mechanisms involved in limb coordination are poorly understood. Here, we present a 3D closed-loop neuromechanical model of a mouse and use it to explore interactions between the spinal circuitry and afferent feedback and their role in interlimb coordination during quadrupedal locomotion. The spinal circuit model includes four rhythm gen

Central pattern generators (CPGs) in the spinal cord control animal locomotion. They generate rhythmically alternating flexor and extensor activities producing coordinated limb movements. Afferent feedback allows animals to adapt locomotion to the environment. Responses of neural activities to afferent feedback stimulation have been previously examined during fictive locomotion in immobilized cats. However, locomotion of behaving animals is governed by dynamic interactions between central neuronal circuits (CPGs), afferent feedback, the musculoskeletal system, and the environment. To study the

The cerebellum is critical for coordinating movement, and during locomotion it is particularly important for interlimb coordination. Decades of recordings have consistently shown that cerebellar Purkinje cell modulation is broadly correlated with the locomotor stride cycle. However, much of the firing rate variability has remained unexplained, and it is not yet clear how Purkinje cell population activity could be read out to control whole-body coordination. Here, we performed cell-attached recordings of Purkinje cell simple spike activity in head-fixed mice locomoting for liquid rewards, toget

Locomotion of animals is controlled by central pattern generators (CPGs) located in the spinal cord. Afferent feedback allows animals to adapt locomotion to the environment. Responses of neural activities to afferent feedback stimulation have been previously examined during fictive locomotion in immobilized cats. However, the locomotion of behaving animals is governed by dynamic interactions between central neuronal circuits, afferent feedback, the musculoskeletal system, and the environment. To study the specific role of afferent feedback in these interactions, we created a neuromusculoskelet