Neurons, Networks, and Motor Behavior (Computational Neuroscience)

Recent advances in motor behavior research rely on detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the neurons and networks that generate motor behavior. At the cellular level, Neurons, Networks, and Motor Behavior describes the computational characteristics of individual neurons and how these characteristics are modified by neuromodulators. At the network and behavioral levels, the volume discusses how network structure is dynamically modulated to produce adaptive behavior. Comparisons of model systems throughout the animal kingdom provide insights into general principles of motor control. Contributors describe how networks generate such motor behaviors as walking, swimming, flying, scratching, reaching, breathing, feeding, and chewing. An emerging principle of organization is that nervous systems are remarkably efficient in constructing neural networks that control multiple tasks and dynamically adapt to change.

The volume contains six sections: selection and initiation of motor patterns; generation and formation of motor patterns: cellular and systems properties; generation and formation of motor patterns: computational approaches; modulation and reconfiguration; short-term modulation of pattern generating circuits; and sensory modification of motor output to control whole body orientation.

Paul S. G. Stein is Professor in the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Sten Grillner is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physiology/Medicine. Allen I. Selverston is Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of California, San Diego, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology. Douglas G. Stuart is Professor in the Department of Physiology and Regents' Professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson.