
The Neural Control of Movement
Model Systems and Tools to Study Locomotor Function
- 1st Edition - August 12, 2020
- Editors: Patrick J. Whelan, Simon A. Sharples
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 1 6 4 7 7 - 8
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 1 7 2 7 5 - 9
From speech to breathing to overt movement contractions of muscles are the only way other than sweating whereby we literally make a mark on the world. Locomotion is an essential pa… Read more

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Request a sales quoteFrom speech to breathing to overt movement contractions of muscles are the only way other than sweating whereby we literally make a mark on the world. Locomotion is an essential part of this equation and exciting new developments are shedding light on the mechanisms underlying how this important behavior occurs.
The Neural Control of Movement
discusses these developments across a variety of species including man. The editors focus on highlighting the utility of different models from invertebrates to vertebrates. Each chapter discusses how new approaches in neuroscience are being used to dissect and control neural networks. An area of emphasis is on vertebrate motor networks and particularly the spinal cord. The spinal cord is unique because it has seen the use of genetic tools allowing the dissection of networks for over ten years. This book provides practical details on model systems, approaches, and analysis approaches related to movement control. This book is written for neuroscientists interested in movement control.- Provides practice details on model systems, approaches, and analysis approaches related to movement control
- Discusses how recent advances like optogenetics and chemogenetics affect the need for model systems to be modified (or not) to work for studies of movement and motor control
- Written for neuroscientists interested in movement control, especially movement disorders like Parkinson’s, MS, spinal cord injury, and stroke
Neuroscientists and advanced graduate students interested in movement control
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Contributors
- About the Editors
- Preface
- Introduction: An interphyletic tool kit to study locomotor function: Past, present, and future directions
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Why study locomotion in a variety of species?
- Motivational factors
- Practical factors
- Historical account
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Section I: Invertebrates
- Chapter 1: Elegantly
- Abstract
- In the beginning
- C. elegans lends itself to a wide range of experimental approaches
- Locomotion behavior
- Body mechanics
- The locomotion circuit
- Rhythm and pattern generation
- Analogy to other systems and framework of comparison
- Locomotion of the first-stage larva
- Completeness and compactness, maps and hope
- About the authors
- Chapter 2: Small steps and larger strides in understanding the neural bases of crawling in the medicinal leech
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- Overview
- Kinematics of crawling
- The centrally generated crawl motor pattern
- Role of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) in locomotor selection
- Crawling and the brain
- Intersegmental coordination, the cephalic cell R3b-1, and the CV motoneuron
- The chronic loss of cephalic inputs and the ability to recover coordinated crawling
- Homeostatic plasticity and a new dependence on peripheral information
- Remodeling of the stretch receptors during crawl recovery
- Principles of flexible locomotor organization and action selection
- The reconfiguration of locomotor networks and lessons for spinal cord injury
- The next chapter of the leech model: A new, bigger, and better tool kit
- Inspiring new neural recording techniques
- The leech and new device-related neuromodulation technologies
- The leech as an inspiration for the design of biomimetic robots
- About the authors
- Chapter 3: Studying the neural basis of animal walking in the stick insect
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Experimental approaches
- Insights into the neural basis of motor control based on research on the stick insect
- Task dependence in locomotion
- Conclusions for future research
- About the authors
- Chapter 4: Neural control of flight in locusts
- Abstract
- Historical perspectives
- Flight
- Central pattern generation
- Sensorimotor integration
- Neuromodulation
- Plasticity
- Evolution
- Conclusion
- About the author
- Section II: Vertebrates
- Chapter 5: Neural control of swimming in lampreys
- Abstract
- Historical perspectives
- Important discoveries made in lampreys relative to the control of locomotion
- Conclusions and perspectives
- About the authors
- Chapter 6: Toward a comprehensive model of circuits underlying locomotion: What did we learn from zebrafish?
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Advantages of using zebrafish as a research model to investigate locomotor circuits
- Molecular and cellular control of locomotor activity: Seeing through the functional diversity of spinal neurons
- Stereotyped organization of interneurons in the hindbrain
- Conclusions
- About the authors
- Chapter 7: Neural control of swimming in hatchling Xenopus frog tadpoles
- Abstract
- Historical perspectives
- Sensory systems and the initiation of swimming (swimming decision-making)
- Swimming rhythm generation (deciphering the swim CPG)
- Autonomous mechanisms regulating swim episode duration
- Neuromodulation and metamodulation
- Conclusions and future prospects
- About the authors
- Chapter 8: Xenopus frog metamorphosis: A model for studying locomotor network development and neuromodulation
- Abstract
- Historical perspectives on metamorphosis and locomotion
- Introduction
- An evolutionary-developmental perspective
- Locomotor system remodeling during metamorphosis
- Comparison with mammalian locomotor system development
- Other neuronal changes accompanying locomotor circuit remodeling
- Comparison with other metamorphosing locomotor systems
- Neuromodulation, metamodulation, and locomotor CPG circuit development
- Developmental changes in other locomotor-related systems during metamorphosis
- Conclusions
- About the authors
- Chapter 9: The turtle as a model for spinal motor circuits
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Experimental model and historical overview
- What has the turtle taught us about the circuits for locomotor control?
- Population activity and motor behaviors
- Challenges using the turtle as a model
- About the author
- Chapter 10: Development of the locomotor system—Chick embryo
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Development of the locomotor system
- Embryonic movements
- Homeostatic control of embryonic movements and spinal SNA
- About the author
- Chapter 11: Using mouse genetics to study the developing spinal locomotor circuit
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- Experimental models
- From classical approaches to mouse genetics to assess neural control of movement and locomotion
- What have we learned about the spinal locomotor circuit using mouse genetics?
- Conclusion
- About the authors
- Chapter 12: Using mouse genetics to investigate supraspinal pathways of the brain important to locomotion
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- Experimental models
- From classical approaches to mouse genetics
- What have we learned about brain locomotor circuits using mouse genetics?
- The motor cortex and corticospinal tract
- The red nucleus and rubrospinal tract (RST)
- The pontomedullary reticular formation (PMRF) and reticulospinal pathways
- Midbrain and diencephalic locomotor centers
- The mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR)
- The Subthalamic locomotor region (SLR)
- Modulation and functional connectivity between the SLR and MLR
- Conclusion
- About the authors
- Chapter 13: Fundamental contributions of the cat model to the neural control of locomotion
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- Historical aspects of the cat model
- Strengths and caveats of the cat model
- Neural mechanisms controlling locomotion identified in the cat
- Current challenges and questions/approaches moving forward
- About the author
- Chapter 14: The micropig model of neurosurgery and spinal cord injury in experiments of motor control
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- The pig in biomedical research
- Preclinical studies
- The pig brain to model human neurosurgical approaches
- Pig models for motor control and the advent of porcine SCI models: Porcine vs other large animal models of SCI
- Key milestones in the development of porcine SCI models
- Anesthetic management for electrophysiological assessments
- Management of hypothermia
- Postoperative analgesia
- Application of the porcine SCI model to motor control
- Development and validation of a stereotactic protocol in the Yucatan micropig skull
- Stereotactic targeting of the MLR
- Surgical implantation of electrodes and electrophysiological testing
- What have we learned about the circuits for locomotor control? Testing in unanesthetized animals
- Locomotion in the uninjured animal as assessed with manual (animal-driven) or motorized treadmills
- Descending control of spinal function—Uncertainties and challenges
- Conclusions
- About the authors
- Chapter 15: What lies beneath the brain: Neural circuits involved in human locomotion
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Neural control of locomotion in nonhuman animals
- Characteristics of human gait
- Is bipedalism a defining feature in human evolution?
- A note on methodologies used to study locomotor circuits in humans
- Reflexes as a probe to understand the neural control of rhythmic movement
- Coordinating activity between the legs
- Coordinating activity between the arms
- Coordinating activity between the arms and legs
- Involuntary stepping in neurologically intact humans
- Spontaneous rhythmic stepping in humans with spinal cord injury
- Rhythmic stepping induced by spinal cord stimulation humans with spinal cord injury
- Rhythmic stepping induced by pharmacology humans with spinal cord injury
- Infant stepping
- Supraspinal control in human locomotion
- “Common core” neural control during many rhythmic behaviors
- Concluding remarks
- About the authors
- Chapter 16: A tale of many models. Which one creates the best of times?
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- The foundations of modern motor control neuroscience
- What about the translation to human disease?
- New tools—Are they wagging the dog?
- An argument for the tail wagging the dog
- Conclusions
- About the authors
- Index
- No. of pages: 484
- Language: English
- Edition: 1
- Published: August 12, 2020
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Paperback ISBN: 9780128164778
- eBook ISBN: 9780128172759
PW
Patrick J. Whelan
Dr. Whelan is an established investigator with over 25 years experience in the control of locomotion. He received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Alberta in 1996 and completed his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland before joining the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary in 2000. He joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2005 and is currently jointly appointed in the Faculty of Medicine. He is currently a member of the Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine (FVM), Department of Physiology and Biophysics (Faculty of Medicine) and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences (Faculty of Medicine). Dr. Whelan is currently a co-leader of the Spinal Cord and Nerve Regeneration Group within the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, CanadaSS
Simon A. Sharples
Dr. Simon Sharples is a Royal Society Newton International Fellow at the University of St. Andrews. He obtained undergraduate (2010) and masters (2012) degrees in kinesiology from Wilfrid Laurier University (2012) and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Calgary in 2018. Dr. Sharples has worked with human and animal models to understand plasticity in motor systems during early life, into adulthood and disease.
Affiliations and expertise
Royal Society Newton International Fellow, University of St. Andrews, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, St. Andrews, Fife, UKRead The Neural Control of Movement on ScienceDirect