ePoster · Computational Neuroscience
Modeling the tail-to-limb-based swimming transition in the Xenopus frog
Alexia Wilson, Florina Alexandra Toma, Aaradhya Vaze, Zoe Harrington, Christoph Sommer, Robert Hauschild, Tim Vogels, Lora Sweeney · FENS Forum 2024
Xenopus frog metamorphosis offers a unique opportunity to study motor circuit changes as tadpoles transition from tail-based undulatory swimming to synchronous limb-based movements. Xenopus motor circuits change at a cellular level and generate different motor patterns over development, but the mechanisms driving the changes in motor output during metamorphosis are not well understood.Here, we combine behavioral analysis with computational modeling. We first quantify swimming (tadpole and frog) behavior using the tracking software SLEAP, measuring the decrease in frequency of tail movement, an