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Regulation of Posture and Locomotion in Decerebrate and Spinal Animals

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The experiments reported here showed that decerebrate cats can actively maintain posture during standing and walking. On standing, postural corrections consisted of redistribution of extensor muscle activity in response to perturbations. Correcting reactions during walking included changes in the durations of the swing and transfer phases of the locomotor cycle, modulation of supporting force reactions, and modification of flexor and extensor function. Detailed analysis of correlations between muscle activity, supporting force reactions, and the kinematics of truncal and hindlimb movements showed that the motor system of the decerebrate animal can use a combination of feedback and feedforward to regulate dynamic balance during locomotion. Furthermore, balance was rapidly restored after impairment due to stumbling or perturbing influences. The intraspinal neural networks and somatosensory afferent input from the limbs can effectively regulate balance during walking and standing, without involvement of the vestibular and visual systems. After interruption of the connection with the motor centers of the stem and forebrain in decerebrate and spinal animals, these networks were in a suppressed state but could be activated by epidural and sensory stimulation substituting for tonic supraspinal drive.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. I. P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 6 Makarov Bank, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    P. E. Musienko, V. A. Kilimnik & Yu. P. Gerasimenko

  2. St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Engineering, 67 Bol’shaya Morskaya Street, 190000, St. Petersburg, Russia

    O. V. Gorskii & V. A. Kilimnik

  3. Russian Federation State Scientific Center Institute of Medical-Biological Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, 76A Khoroshevskoe Chaussee, 12307, Moscow, Russia

    I. B. Kozlovskaya

  4. Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland

    G. Courtine

  5. Department of Integrative Biology University of California, Los Angeles, USA

    V. R. Edgerton

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  1. P. E. Musienko
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  3. V. A. Kilimnik
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  4. I. B. Kozlovskaya
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  5. G. Courtine
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  6. V. R. Edgerton
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  7. Yu. P. Gerasimenko
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Correspondence to P. E. Musienko.

Additional information

Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 99, No. 3, pp. 392–405, March, 2013.

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Musienko, P.E., Gorskii, O.V., Kilimnik, V.A. et al. Regulation of Posture and Locomotion in Decerebrate and Spinal Animals. Neurosci Behav Physi 45, 229–237 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-015-0062-3

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