The Neural Control of Movement

Dr. Whelan is an established investigator with over 25 years experience in the control of locomotion. He received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Alberta in 1996 and completed his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland before joining the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary in 2000. He joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2005 and is currently jointly appointed in the Faculty of Medicine. He is currently a member of the Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine (FVM), Department of Physiology and Biophysics (Faculty of Medicine) and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences (Faculty of Medicine). Dr. Whelan is currently a co-leader of the Spinal Cord and Nerve Regeneration Group within the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.Dr. Simon Sharples is a Royal Society Newton International Fellow at the University of St. Andrews. He obtained undergraduate (2010) and masters (2012) degrees in kinesiology from Wilfrid Laurier University (2012) and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Calgary in 2018. Dr. Sharples has worked with human and animal models to understand plasticity in motor systems during early life, into adulthood and disease.

From speech to breathing to overt movement contractions of muscles are the only way other than sweating whereby we literally make a mark on the world. Locomotion is an essential part of this equation and exciting new developments are shedding light on the mechanisms underlying how this important behavior occurs.

The Neural Control of Movement discusses these developments across a variety of species including man. The editors focus on highlighting the utility of different models from invertebrates to vertebrates. Each chapter discusses how new approaches in neuroscience are being used to dissect and control neural networks. An area of emphasis is on vertebrate motor networks and particularly the spinal cord. The spinal cord is unique because it has seen the use of genetic tools allowing the dissection of networks for over ten years. This book provides practical details on model systems, approaches, and analysis approaches related to movement control. This book is written for neuroscientists interested in movement control.

Section A. Invertebrates
1. Elegantly
2. Small steps and larger strides in understanding the neural bases of crawling in the medicinal leech
3. Studying the neural basis of animal walking in the stick insect
4. Neural control of flight in locusts
Section B. Vertebrates
5. Neural control of swimming in lampreys
6. Toward a comprehensive model of circuits underlying locomotion: What did we learn from zebrafish?
7. Neural control of swimming in hatchling Xenopus frog tadpoles
8. Xenopus frog metamorphosis: A model for studying locomotor network development and neuromodulation
9. The turtle as a model for spinal motor circuits
10. Development of the locomotor system - Chick embryo
11. Using mouse genetics to study the developing spinal locomotor circuit
12. Using mouse genetics to investigate supraspinal pathways of the brain important to locomotion
13. Fundamental contributions of the cat model to the neural control of locomotion
14. The micropig model of neurosurgery and spinal cord injury in experiments of motor control.
15. What lies beneath the brain: Neural circuits involved in human locomotion
16. A tale of many models. Which one creates the best of times?