Locomotion is essential for life, enabling organisms to explore, interact with and adapt to their environments 1,2,3. Across the animal kingdom, the forms of locomotion are as diverse as the species ...

Shortly before the lights go out in the evening, the animals (being trained to a 12 h light/12 h dark rhythm) typically settle in one place, display decreasing postural tone and spontaneously start ...

A well-trained athlete sprinting 100 yards performs a highly stereotyped, repetitive motor pattern. Neuroscientists understand that these rhythmic motor programs, such as walking, swimming and running ...

Central pattern generator (CPG) and reflex network coordinated by speed adjustment commands from a higher-level nerve centre (a), and overall control framework (b). An international group of ...

In a new study, scientists from the University of Cologne gained new insights into the mechanism of the rhythmic activation of nerve cells (neurons) in stick insects that control the leg muscles ...

Implantable technologies have significantly improved our ability to study and even modulate the activity of neurons in the brain, but neurons in the spinal cord are harder to study in action. Science ...