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The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 85 No. 1 January 2001, pp. 341-353
Copyright ©2001 by the American Physiological Society
Zoologisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, 50923 Cologne, Germany
Fischer, Hanno,
Joachim Schmidt,
Roman Haas, and
Ansgar Büschges.
Pattern Generation for Walking and Searching Movements of a Stick
Insect Leg. I. Coordination of Motor Activity. J. Neurophysiol. 85: 341-353, 2001. During walking,
the six legs of a stick insect can be coordinated in different temporal
sequences or gaits. Leg coordination in each gait is controlled and
stabilized by coordinating mechanisms that affect the action of the
segmental neuronal networks for walking pattern generation. At present,
the motor program for single walking legs in the absence of
movement-related coordinating intersegmental influences from the other
legs is not known. This knowledge is a prerequisite for the
investigation of the segmental neuronal mechanisms that control the
movements of a leg and to study the effects of intersegmental
coordinating input. A stick insect single middle leg walking
preparation has been established that is able to actively perform
walking movements on a treadband. The walking pattern showed a clear
division into stance and swing phases and, in the absence of ground
contact, the leg performed searching movements. We describe the
activity patterns of the leg muscles and motoneurons supplying the
coxa-trochanteral joint, the femur-tibial joint, and the tarsal leg
joints of the middle leg during both walking and searching movements.
Furthermore we describe the temporal coordination between them. During
walking movements, the coupling between the leg joints was
phase-constant; in contrast during searching movements, the coupling
between the leg joints was dependent on cycle period. The motor pattern
of the single leg generated during walking exhibits similarities with
the motor pattern generated during a tripod gait in an intact animal.
The generation of walking movements also drives the activity of
thoraco-coxal motoneurons of the deafferented and de-efferented thoraco-coxal leg joint in a phase-locked manner, with protractor motoneurons being active during swing and retractor motoneurons being
active during stance. These results show that for the single middle
leg, a basic walking motor pattern is generated sharing similarities
with the tripod gait and that the influence of the motor pattern
generated in the distal leg joints is sufficient for driving the
activity of coxal motoneurons so an overall motor pattern resembling
forward walking is generated.
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B. Ch. Ludwar, M. L. Goritz, and J. Schmidt Intersegmental Coordination of Walking Movements in Stick Insects J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2005; 93(3): 1255 - 1265. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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Y. Manor, A. Bose,, V. Booth, and F. Nadim, Contribution of Synaptic Depression to Phase Maintenance in a Model Rhythmic Network J Neurophysiol, November 1, 2003; 90(5): 3513 - 3528. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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D. Bucher, T. Akay, R. A. DiCaprio, and A. Buschges Interjoint Coordination in the Stick Insect Leg-Control System: The Role of Positional Signaling J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2003; 89(3): 1245 - 1255. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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T. Akay, U. Bassler, P. Gerharz, and A. Buschges The Role of Sensory Signals From the Insect Coxa-Trochanteral Joint in Controlling Motor Activity of the Femur-Tibia Joint J Neurophysiol, February 1, 2001; 85(2): 594 - 604. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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J. Schmidt, H. Fischer, and A. Buschges Pattern Generation for Walking and Searching Movements of a Stick Insect Leg. II. Control of Motoneuronal Activity J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2001; 85(1): 354 - 361. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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