Ansgar Büschges

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  Adaptive Locomotor Behavior: Neural Mechanisms Underlying Coordination of Motor Activity in a Six-Legged Biological Walking System
  Ansgar Büschges

  The generation of motor behavior is a main function of all animals’ nervous systems. In the past decades detailed information has become available on the organization and operation of those neuronal networks that generate the motor output needed for locomotion. This encompasses the movement of wings for flying, the trunk and fins for swimming, or legs for walking. Today, a lot is known about the generation of so-called basic or default locomotor patterns, e.g. single leg stepping in walking. In contrast, we are only starting to find out (i) how the networks involved in these behaviors generate flexible motor output allowing for the generation of adaptive locomotor behavior, for instance changes in heading, direction and walking speed, (ii) how these networks interact with each other to generate proper coordination for locomotion, e.g. between the stepping legs of a walking animal, and finally (iii) which aspects of the motor output need to be controlled by the brain and which are under local control in order to allow for the full functional range in locomotion. The talk will present recent findings on these three topics gathered from studies on insect walking, both in the stick insect and the fruit fly.