Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program
The neural substrates of motor programs are only well understood for small, dedicated circuits. Here we investigate how a motor program is constructed within a large network. We imaged populations of neurons in the Aplysia pedal ganglion during execution of a locomotion motor program. We found that...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53578/ |
| _version_ | 1848798960287744000 |
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| author | Bruno, Angela M. Frost, William N. Humphries, Mark D. |
| author_facet | Bruno, Angela M. Frost, William N. Humphries, Mark D. |
| author_sort | Bruno, Angela M. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The neural substrates of motor programs are only well understood for small, dedicated circuits. Here we investigate how a motor program is constructed within a large network. We imaged populations of neurons in the Aplysia pedal ganglion during execution of a locomotion motor program. We found that the program was built from a very small number of dynamical building blocks, including both neural ensembles and low-dimensional rotational dynamics. These map onto physically discrete regions of the ganglion, so that the motor program has a corresponding modular organization in both dynamical and physical space. Using this dynamic map, we identify the population potentially implementing the rhythmic pattern generator and find that its activity physically traces a looped trajectory, recapitulating its low-dimensional rotational dynamics. Our results suggest that, even in simple invertebrates, neural motor programs are implemented by large, distributed networks containing multiple dynamical systems. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:28:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-53578 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:28:04Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-535782018-08-31T10:10:33Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53578/ Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program Bruno, Angela M. Frost, William N. Humphries, Mark D. The neural substrates of motor programs are only well understood for small, dedicated circuits. Here we investigate how a motor program is constructed within a large network. We imaged populations of neurons in the Aplysia pedal ganglion during execution of a locomotion motor program. We found that the program was built from a very small number of dynamical building blocks, including both neural ensembles and low-dimensional rotational dynamics. These map onto physically discrete regions of the ganglion, so that the motor program has a corresponding modular organization in both dynamical and physical space. Using this dynamic map, we identify the population potentially implementing the rhythmic pattern generator and find that its activity physically traces a looped trajectory, recapitulating its low-dimensional rotational dynamics. Our results suggest that, even in simple invertebrates, neural motor programs are implemented by large, distributed networks containing multiple dynamical systems. Elsevier 2015-04-08 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53578/1/Neuron2015_AuthorAcceptedManuscript.pdf Bruno, Angela M., Frost, William N. and Humphries, Mark D. (2015) Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program. Neuron, 86 (1). pp. 304-318. ISSN 0896-6273 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627315002019?via%3Dihub doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.03.005 doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.03.005 |
| spellingShingle | Bruno, Angela M. Frost, William N. Humphries, Mark D. Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program |
| title | Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program |
| title_full | Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program |
| title_fullStr | Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program |
| title_short | Modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program |
| title_sort | modular deconstruction reveals the dynamical and physical building blocks of a locomotion motor program |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53578/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53578/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53578/ |