Neuronal Control of Locomotion 'From Mollusc to Man '

What does the swimming leech have to do with the running human? The ability to move actively in space is essential to members of the animal kingdom, and the evolution of the nervous system relates to a large extent to the evolution of locomotion. The extreme importance of locomotion has stimulated many studies of the neural mechanisms underlying locomotion across a range of species. For the first time, a group of three leading neurobiologists have undertaken a comparative study of these mechanisms. Neuronal Control of Locomotion: From Mollusc to Man describes how the brains in very diverse and evolutionarily removed species control the animal's locomotion. In doing so, the authors reveal unifying principles of brain function, making it essential reading for students and researchers in neurobiology generally, and motor control in particular.

G.N. Orlovsky, T.G. Deliagina, and S. Grillner are all at the Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute.