Movement is governed by rotational neural dynamics in spinal motor networks

Henrik Lindén*, Peter C. Petersen, Mikkel Vestergaard, Rune W. Berg

*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

34 Citationer (Scopus)
42 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Although the generation of movements is a fundamental function of the nervous system, the underlying neural principles remain unclear. As flexor and extensor muscle activities alternate during rhythmic movements such as walking, it is often assumed that the responsible neural circuitry is similarly exhibiting alternating activity1. Here we present ensemble recordings of neurons in the lumbar spinal cord that indicate that, rather than alternating, the population is performing a low-dimensional ‘rotation’ in neural space, in which the neural activity is cycling through all phases continuously during the rhythmic behaviour. The radius of rotation correlates with the intended muscle force, and a perturbation of the low-dimensional trajectory can modify the motor behaviour. As existing models of spinal motor control do not offer an adequate explanation of rotation1,2, we propose a theory of neural generation of movements from which this and other unresolved issues, such as speed regulation, force control and multifunctionalism, are readily explained.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftNature
Vol/bind610
Sider (fra-til)526-531
Antal sider6
ISSN0028-0836
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2022

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by The Independent Research Fund Denmark and Mobilex (number 8020-00436B, DFF–1333-00226A), the Carlsberg Foundation (number CF18-0845) and the Lundbeck Foundation (number R366-2021-233).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Citationsformater