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Book Review: Modular Organization of Spinal Motor Systems

Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, ebizzi{at}mit.edu

A. D’Avella

Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

P. Saltiel

Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

M. Tresch

Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

The vertebrate nervous system produces a wide range of movement flexibly and efficiently, even though the simplest of these movements is potentially highly complex. The strategies by which the nervous system overcomes these complexities have therefore been of interest to motor physiologists for decades. In this review, the authors present a number of recent experiments that propose one strategy by which the nervous system might simplify the production of movement. These experiments suggest that spinal motor systems are organized in terms of a small number of distinct motor responses, or "modules." These distinct modules can be combined together simply to produce a wide range of different movements. Such a modular organization of spinal motor systems can potentially allow the nervous system to produce a wide range of natural behaviors in a simple and flexible manner.

Key Words: Spinal motor systems • Spinal force fields • Motor primitives • Spinal interneurons

The Neuroscientist, Vol. 8, No. 5, 437-442 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/107385802236969


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