The Motor System in Health and Disease: From Function to Recovery

The motor system is fundamental for voluntary movement, coordination, and interaction with our environment, encompassing a complex network of interconnected brain regions and neural pathways. Recent advances in neuroscience have shed light on the sophisticated mechanisms behind motor planning, execution, and control, while also revealing how these processes break down in disease and injury. Despite significant progress, key questions remain regarding how the brain integrates sensory information, translates intention into action, and adapts to dysfunction through plasticity and compensation. Research in this area is critical not only for advancing our understanding of basic neurobiology, but also for informing clinical approaches to a wide range of neurological conditions – including stroke, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, and other disorders that impair movement. As populations age and the incidence of motor system disorders increases, elucidating the principles underlying motor function and recovery is more important than ever, driving innovation in diagnostics, therapeutics, and rehabilitation.



This Research Topic aims to gather cutting-edge studies that illuminate the complexity of the motor system from multiple perspectives, spanning both physiology and pathology. We welcome original research, reviews, and translational studies that address:



- Motor Planning, Execution, and Control: Investigations into how the brain initiates and regulates movement, both in typical conditions and following impairment.

- Neural Circuits and Plasticity: Insights into the roles of major regions (e.g., cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum) and the adaptive changes (neuroplasticity) occurring after injury or in disease states.

- Molecular and Physiological Mechanisms: Exploration of cellular and molecular processes guiding motor control and their disruption in pathologies.

- Motor System Dysfunction and Recovery: Studies of how neurological insults (such as stroke, trauma, or degenerative diseases) perturb motor function, as well as the biological and behavioral mechanisms underlying compensation and recovery.

- Therapeutic Approaches: Development and assessment of interventions, including preclinical models, clinical trials, and novel rehabilitation strategies, that seek to restore or augment motor function.



Submissions may span the full spectrum of research, from basic neuroscience to translational and clinical studies. We particularly encourage work that bridges gaps between molecular mechanisms, systems-level function, and therapeutic innovation, ultimately aiming to understand and enhance motor recovery in neurological disease and injury.