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Segmental and Suprasegmental Contributions to Development and Recovery of Motor Function in Kittens

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Neurobiology of Vertebrate Locomotion

Part of the book series: Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series ((WGS))

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Abstract

The development of the central control of motor function is, presumably, mediated by the development of three classes of neuronal pathways: 1) intrinsic spinal systems; 2) reflex afferents; and 3) descending supraspinal and propriospinal tracts. In the cat, none of these three systems is fully developed at birth and the contribution made by each, as it matures, to developing motor behavior is incompletely understood. In the first part of this century, it was apparently assumed that segmental organization was well-developed at birth and, therefore, that postnatal motor development was a reflection only of the maturation of descending pathways (Windle et al., 1934, Langworthy, 1929). The extent to which the spinal cord could mediate motor function autonomously was not yet appreciated. The demonstration that developing stretch reflex input and, in particular, its fusimotor component, plays an important role in some aspects of motor development (Skoglund, 1969) was an important step in establishing the importance of the segmental organization of the spinal cord for motor development. In the past twenty years, the primacy of intrinsic spinal pathways in the generation of motor behavior has been firmly established (Grillner, 1975, 1976, 1981).

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Authors
  1. Michael E. Goldberger
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology III, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Sten Grillner  & Hans Forssberg  & 

  2. Department of Biology, Washington University, St Louis, USA

    Paul S. G. Stein

  3. Department of Physiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA

    Douglas G. Stuart

  4. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Catholic Medical Center, Manchester, USA

    Richard M. Herman

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© 1986 The Wenner-Gren Center

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Goldberger, M.E. (1986). Segmental and Suprasegmental Contributions to Development and Recovery of Motor Function in Kittens. In: Grillner, S., Stein, P.S.G., Stuart, D.G., Forssberg, H., Herman, R.M. (eds) Neurobiology of Vertebrate Locomotion. Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09148-5_29

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