Sensory feedback

Constant interactions of motor and sensory signals occur at many levels in the nervous system to support animals’ adaptive behaviors. During movements, motor brain regions not only send motor commands to descending spinal pathways, but also corollary discharge (CD) signals to other brain areas to modulate sensory processing. Theoretical work suggests the sensory predictions conveyed by CD signals are combined with sensory feedback to form an optimal estimate of the body state. However, neural underpinnings of this integration in cortex remain elusive. Here, we used a neural decoding-based appr

To position his feet correctly on the wire, tightrope walker needs precise sensory feedback. This skilled motor behaviour requires the rapid integration of external sensory input to achieve accuracy in foot placement while keeping the balance. Neurones in contact with the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF-cNs), localized around the medullo-spinal central canal in all vertebrates, are GABAergic and selectively express PKD2L1 channel (Polycystin Kidney Disease 2-like1), a member of TRP superfamily, with chemo/mechanosensitive properties. In zebrafish, CSF-cNs respond to spinal cord bending and modulat

…of neurons in the spinal cord, sensory ganglia, and the brain. Sensory input from the skin and muscles is relayed to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Neurons in the dorsal and intermediate spinal cord integrate and convey the processed sensory feedback to the ventral premotor network to initiate or correct motor actions or to specialized brain areas for perception and long-term adaptation. Although the identity and post-synaptic targets of spinal ascending projection neurons have started to be characterized, we

…fibers across the lesion and intact sensory feedback reaching the spinal circuits. This study seeks to enhance the integration of residual supraspinal commands with spinal-level sensory input to improve motor function by inducing adaptive plasticity within the neuronal networks below the site of injury. To selectively increase the supraspinal locomotor drive, we targeted the cuneiform nucleus (CnF) using viral vector delivery of optogenetic activators in a thoracic incomplete SCI mouse model. Phys

…The MC model receives sensory feedback and delivers muscle excitations to anatomically accurate musculoskeletal models to produce experimentally observed movements. The se

…which an intended action offsets other sensory circuits to prevent them from responding to reaffe

…allow us to understand the role of sensory feedback in motor control. These models thus fail to elucidate the computational role of n

…in typical motor output and different feedback-driven adjustments. The motor cortex (M1) is clearly involved in specifying motor output. Less-well understood is the extent and nature of its role in performing computations underlying skill-specific feedback control. In addressing this question, a technical hurdle is that it can be difficult to discern when skill-specific aspects of neural activity reflect different motor outputs versus skill-specific feedback control. To overcome this hurdle, we employed

…between self-generated motion and sensory feedback. Combined with computational models at different levels, these experiments illustrated that the brain incorporates the prior

Today, considerable information is available on the organization and operation of the neural networks that generate the motor output for animal locomotion, such as swimming, walking, or flying. In recent years, the question of which neural mechanisms are responsible for task-specific and flexible adaptations of locomotor patterns has gained increased attention in the field of motor control. I will report on advances we made with respect to this topic for walking in insects, i.e. the leg muscle control system of phasmids and fruit flies. I will present insights into the neural basis of speed co