Multisensory feedback makes swimming circuits robust against spinal transection and enables terrestrial crawling in elongate fish.

ABSTRACT: Vertebrate locomotion is due to the interplay of neural oscillators and sensory feedback loops in the spinal cord that interact with the body and the environment. Here, we study these circuits with a focus on undulatory locomotion as produced by elongated fish such as eels and lampreys. We address three questions: i) How do proprioception (stretch feedback) and exteroception (pressure on skin) interact with local oscillators to generate stable swimming patterns? ii) Can these feedback loops also contribute to dry ground locomotion? iii) Can they explain the remarkable robustness of eels against spinal cord transections? To address these questions, we developed abstract models of the locomotion circuits based on coupled phase oscillators, local stretch and pressure feedback loops, and simul

SUBMITTER: Yasui K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12403005 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature