| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
To explore the roles of the premotor cortices (PMC) in controlling visually guided locomotion on uneven terrain, which entails a high risk of falling, we trained cats to walk on a treadmill with obstacles, and explored the PMC using both electrophysiological (1) and pharmacological (2) approaches.
In approach (1), we characterized the function of the 4delta subdivision of the PMC as interlimb coordination and published our findings in the following journal: Nakajima, T., Fortier-Lebel, N., & Drew, T. (2023). A secondary motor area contributing to interlimb coordination during visually guided locomotion in the cat. Cerebral Cortex, 33(2), 290-315.
Our analysis for (2) is currently ongoing, but preliminary results show that temporary inactivation of the 4delta using pharmacological intervention leads to motor impairment affecting multiple limbs, supporting the findings from (1).
|
