This Research Topic is a part of the Neural and Computational Modeling of Movement Control series:
Neural and Computational Modeling of Movement Control, Volume IIn the study of sensorimotor systems, an important research goal has been to understand the way neural networks in the spinal cord and brain interact with periphery limbs to control voluntary movement. Computational modeling has provided insight into integration principles among centrally generated commands, sensory feedback signals (visual, auditory, proprioceptive and tactile), and biomechanical responses of the moving body. Research in this field is also driven by the need to improve and optimize rehabilitation after nervous system injury and to devise biomimetic methods of control in prosthetic/therapeutic and robotic devices.
This research topic is focused on efforts dedicated to identify and model the neuromechanical control of movement. Neural networks in the brain and spinal cord are known to generate patterned activity that mediates coordinated activation of multiple muscles in both rhythmic and discrete movements, e.g. locomotion and reaching. Commands descending from the higher centers in the CNS modulate the activity of spinal networks, which control movement on the basis of sensory feedback of various types, including those from proprioceptive and tactile afferents. Advances in experimental approaches, including large-scale recordings, molecular-genetic access to neural circuits, and high-resolution behavioral analyses are providing insight into the organizational and functional basis of sensorimotor circuits dedicated to controlling movement. Moreover, computational models will continue to shed light on the central strategies and mechanisms of sensorimotor control and learning.
Articles in the following areas of research are of particular relevance to this research topic:
- Proprioceptive and tactile signaling
- Descending, spinal, and proprioceptive control of locomotion
- Descending, spinal, and sensory control of upper limb reaching and manipulation
- Modular mechanisms that coordinate muscles during movement
- Cortical, subcortical, and spinal mechanisms of movement control
- Biomimetic control of prosthetic/robotic devices and functional electrical stimulation (FES)
- Neuromorphic hardware modeling of neural circuits and biomechanics
- Sensorimotor control in neurorehabilitation
