Topic: proprioceptive feedback

Walking is a familiar but complex behavior, requiring the continuous coordination of multiple muscles while integrating proprioceptive feedback to correct for unanticipated disturbances. Although a variety of walking models propose mechanisms for this coordination, the neural computations proposed by these models have yet to be experimentally validated. Two crucial barriers are (1) gaps in modeling approaches that integrate specific neural dynamics with realistic kinematics to connect predictions to observations and (2) the inherent difficulty in perturbing or recording from neurons during wal

Long propriospinal neurons coordinate activities between limb-specific neural circuitry in the cervical and lumbar enlargement. Silencing of either ascending or descending long propriospinal neurons in intact rats results in a disruption of left–right coordination. Yet, their silencing after a moderate thoracic contusive injury significantly improves locomotion. The underlying mechanisms are unclear and further complicated by the context-dependency of the phenotypes, and likely involve afferent feedback and biomechanical constraints. Here, we present an integrated neurorobotic model of quadrup