Motor control articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Minimally invasive procedures for tracking neural activity are important for understanding of neural networks. Here the authors describe microfabricated implants and windows that enable long-term recordings of motor circuit activity in Drosophila, allowing them to watch how neurons change their structure and activity over weeks.

    • Laura Hermans
    • , Murat Kaynak
    •  & Pavan Ramdya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    2- arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), an abundant endocannabinoid in the brain, regulates diverse neural functions. Here, the authors identified four loss-of-function mutations in dicylglycerol lipase β (DAGLB) from six patients with early onset Parkinsonism. In mice, loss of DAGLB in dopamine neurons reduced neuronal activity and impaired locomotor function and augmentation of 2-AG levels boosted neuronal activity and rescued locomotor deficits.

    • Zhenhua Liu
    • , Nannan Yang
    •  & Beisha Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains unclear how the brain represents information regarding synchronized movements. Here, the authors investigated the response properties of cerebellar cells in macaques performing a synchronized saccade task and found three groups of cerebellar neurons with distinct peri-saccade response profiles.

    • Ken-ichi Okada
    • , Ryuji Takeya
    •  & Masaki Tanaka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is not fully understood how behavioral flexibility is established in the context of automatic performance of a complex motor skill. Here the authors show that corticostriatal activity can flexibly transition between two modes during a reach to-grasp task in rats: reliable neural pattern generation for precise, automatic movements versus variable neural patterning for behavioral exploration.

    • Sravani Kondapavulur
    • , Stefan M. Lemke
    •  & Karunesh Ganguly

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Behavioral variation is thought to result from noise in sensory representations or final motor commands. In this study, the authors investigate variability in eye movements and model that variability as resulting from noisy sensorimotor transformations occurring in the middle temporal visual area.

    • Seth W. Egger
    •  & Stephen G. Lisberger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The variability in synaptic connectivity observed at the cerebellar granule cell - Purkinje cell connection in mice accounts for motor behavior traits at the individual level, suggesting that cerebellar networks encode internal models underlying individual-specific motor adaptation.

    • Ludovic Spaeth
    • , Jyotika Bahuguna
    •  & Philippe Isope

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors use cell-type specific stimulation of brainstem neurons within the caudal pedunculopontine nucleus to show that activation of excitatory neurons can normalize severe locomotor deficit in mouse models of parkinsonism. The study defines a potential target for neuromodulatory restoration of locomotor function in Parkinson’s disease.

    • Débora Masini
    •  & Ole Kiehn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Models of perceptual decision making typically take into account either reactive responses to external stimuli or proactive aspects to decision making. Here the authors found that rat perceptual responses are generated by a combination of the standard evidence accumulation process with a fixed decision boundary, and a separate stochastic boundary collapse triggered by a parallel proactive process.

    • Lluís Hernández-Navarro
    • , Ainhoa Hermoso-Mendizabal
    •  & Alexandre Hyafil

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanisms involved in regeneration of the spinal cord after injury are unclear. Here, the authors show that a subpopulation of intraspinal serotonergic neurons localized at the injury site stimulates axonal regrowth of interneurons via 5-HT1B receptor, resulting in recovery of function following SCI in zebrafish.

    • Chun-Xiao Huang
    • , Yacong Zhao
    •  & Jianren Song

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors show that Trpm5, but not Trpm4, is the main Na+ -permeant channel mediating the warmth-activated ICaN in lumbar motoneurons. Trpm5 is also critical in generating plateau potentials in bistable motoneurons that are essential for producing a postural tone in hindlimbs and amplifying the locomotor output.

    • Rémi Bos
    • , Benoît Drouillas
    •  & Frédéric Brocard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of complex spikes in reinforcement learning is still unclear. Here, the authors show that complex spikes carry multiple context based, cell type specific and learning dependent signals that are independent of changes in any motor kinematics and unlikely to instruct the concurrent simple spike activity during reinforcement learning.

    • Naveen Sendhilnathan
    • , Anna Ipata
    •  & Michael E. Goldberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A crucial component of voluntary behaviour is deciding that it is worth doing something rather than nothing. Here the authors show the brain network that encodes this decision, which includes the habenula and anterior insula.

    • Nima Khalighinejad
    • , Neil Garrett
    •  & Matthew F. S. Rushworth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Orofacial movements for feeding can be triggered, coordinated and rhythmically organised at the level of the brainstem. Here, the authors show two nuclei can organise the stereotyped movements for ingesting fluids in mammals, these neuronal groups are marked by expression of Phox2b and are located in the intermediate reticular formation of the medulla and around the motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve.

    • Bowen Dempsey
    • , Selvee Sungeelee
    •  & Jean-François Brunet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scoliosis due to trunk muscle paralysis frequently requires surgical treatment in children with spinal cord injury. The authors demonstrate the safety and efficacy of transcutaneous spinal stimulation to enable upright sitting posture in 7/8 children with trunk control impairment in a within-subjects, repeated measures pilot clinical trial.

    • Anastasia Keller
    • , Goutam Singh
    •  & Andrea L. Behrman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single-cell profiling has led to the identification of diverse cell types. Here, the authors generate a harmonized cell atlas of the mouse post-natal spinal cord. They also provide spatial analysis of the distribution of the identified cell types and an open-source cell type classifier.

    • Daniel E. Russ
    • , Ryan B. Patterson Cross
    •  & Ariel J. Levine

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Deep-brain stimulation ameliorates parkinsonian symptoms, but it usually requires permanent implantation of hardware and connectors. Here, the authors show magnetothermal neuromodulation through the activation of TRPV1 can improve locomotor deficits in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease.

    • Sarah-Anna Hescham
    • , Po-Han Chiang
    •  & Yasin Temel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In Parkinson’s disease (PD), beta frequency oscillations are synchronised across the cortico-basal-ganglia circuit. The authors show in human participants that high beta frequencies propagate from the cortex to the basal ganglia via the hyperdirect pathway, indicating a pathophysiological role for this pathway in PD.

    • Ashwini Oswal
    • , Chunyan Cao
    •  & Vladimir Litvak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanisms stimulating adult neurogenesis are unclear. Here, the authors show the contribution of cholinergic and GABAergic signalling within the locomotor network to spinal cord neurogenesis during homeostasis and regeneration, showing neurogenesis depends on circuit activity in the adult zebrafish.

    • Weipang Chang
    • , Andrea Pedroni
    •  & Konstantinos Ampatzis

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Two papers published in June 2021 used a two-photon microscope or one-photon miniature microscope to interrogate the motor cortex in behaving macaque monkeys. The imaging was performed over several months, and the direction of natural arm reaching was decoded from the population activity.

    • Masanori Matsuzaki
    •  & Teppei Ebina

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surface two-photon imaging of the brain cannot access somatic calcium signals of neurons from deep layers of the macaque cortex. Here, the authors present an implant and imaging system for chronic motion-stabilized two-photon imaging of dendritic calcium signals to drive an optical brain-computer interface in macaques.

    • Eric M. Trautmann
    • , Daniel J. O’Shea
    •  & Krishna V. Shenoy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Disruption of FOXP2 cause Childhood Apraxia of Speech, a speech disorder marked by difficulties in accurately sequencing vocal motor actions. The authors show that disruption of FoxP2 in the adult songbird similarly disrupts birdsong and link dopaminergic signalling to disruptions in song production.

    • Lei Xiao
    • , Devin P. Merullo
    •  & Todd F. Roberts

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The full heterogeneity and different functional roles of cholinergic neurons in the adult spinal cord remain to be defined. Here the authors develop a targeted single nuclear RNA sequencing approach and use it to identify an array of cholinergic interneurons, as well as visceral and skeletal motor neurons.

    • Mor R. Alkaslasi
    • , Zoe E. Piccus
    •  & Claire E. Le Pichon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plastic reweighting of parallel fiber synaptic strength is a mechanism for the acquisition of cerebellum-dependent motor learning. Here, the authors found that optogenetic activation of PCs generates dendritic Ca2+ signals that induce plasticity in vitro and instruct learned changes to coincident eye movements in vivo.

    • Audrey Bonnan
    • , Matthew M. J. Rowan
    •  & Jason M. Christie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Deep brain stimulation and epidural electrical stimulation of the spinal cord enable locomotion in humans with spinal cord injury (SCI) but the potential synergy between both approaches is unclear. The authors show that a complex technological approach is required to enable volitional walking in rats with SCI.

    • Marco Bonizzato
    • , Nicholas D. James
    •  & Gregoire Courtine

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Neural recording technologies increasingly enable simultaneous measurement of neural activity from multiple brain areas. To gain insight into distributed neural computations, a commensurate advance in experimental and analytical methods is necessary. We discuss two opportunities towards this end: the manipulation and modeling of neural population dynamics.

    • Krishna V. Shenoy
    •  & Jonathan C. Kao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surprisingly, motor cortex becomes less involved in performing skilled motor behaviors as they are practiced. This is addressed by a model of two descending pathways featuring different types of learning: fast learning in a cortical pathway to maximize rewards and slow learning in a subcortical pathway to reinforce behaviors through repetition.

    • James M. Murray
    •  & G. Sean Escola

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) can offer an attractive approach for providing light stimulation in high-throughput optogenetics. Here, the authors report a microstructured OLED array that provides local photo-stimulation in Drosophila melanogaster larvae for controlled motor responses.

    • Caroline Murawski
    • , Stefan R. Pulver
    •  & Malte C. Gather

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Drosophila Moonwalker Descending Neurons (MDNs) alter leg motor circuit dynamics so that the fly walks backwards. The authors identify two MDN effector neurons that directly control the stance and swing phases of the backward stepping cycle, indicating distributed control of local motor circuits via command-type descending neurons.

    • Kai Feng
    • , Rajyashree Sen
    •  & Barry J. Dickson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Delay eyeblink conditioning depends on the simplex lobule-interposed nucleus pathway in the cerebellum. Here, the authors show that the vermis-fastigial nucleus-medullary reticular nucleus pathway modulates the conditioned and unconditioned eyelid closure during delay eyeblink conditioning.

    • Xiaolu Wang
    • , Si-yang Yu
    •  & Zhenyu Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Motor neurons are generally considered to be passive receivers of commands from other neurons. However, this study shows that motor neurons may shape locomotor behaviour by regulating premotor neurons, and that premotor neurons serve to integrate information from sensory neurons and motor neurons.

    • Ping Liu
    • , Bojun Chen
    •  & Zhao-Wen Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The rhesus macaque is an important model species in several branches of science, but the utility of this model would be enhanced by the ability to measure behaviour throughout pose. Here, the authors describe a deep learning-based markerless motion capture system for estimating 3D pose in freely moving macaques.

    • Praneet C. Bala
    • , Benjamin R. Eisenreich
    •  & Jan Zimmermann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Learning skilled movements requires evolution in neural population dynamics both within and across cortical regions. Here, the authors combine simultaneous recordings of motor and premotor cortex with computational methods to show that single-trial cross-area dynamics correlate with single-trial behavior performance and skill acquisition.

    • T. L. Veuthey
    • , K. Derosier
    •  & K. Ganguly

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Psychomotor stimulants increase dopamine levels in the striatum and promote locomotion but their effects on striatal pathways in vivo remain unclear. The authors show that cocaine increases the activity of direct and indirect pathway striatal neurons of awake mice via the orbitofrontal cortex.

    • Sebastiano Bariselli
    • , Nanami L. Miyazaki
    •  & Alexxai V. Kravitz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    We can flexibly coordinate our movements with external stimuli, but no circuit-level model exists to explain this ability. Inspired by fundamental concepts in control theory, the authors construct a modular neural circuit that captures human behavior in a wide range of temporal coordination tasks.

    • Seth W. Egger
    • , Nhat M. Le
    •  & Mehrdad Jazayeri

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