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Command Systems for Initiating Locomotion in Fish and Amphibians: Parallels to Initiation Systems in Mammals

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Neurobiology of Vertebrate Locomotion

Part of the book series: Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series ((WGS))

Abstract

The motor systems controlling behaviors can be divided into at least two compartments: the motor networks, which generate the motor activity, and the “command” system, which initiates the behavior by activating the motor networks. In both vertebrates and invertebrates, the motor activity for many innate behaviors, such as locomotion, feeding, scratching, and grooming, is centrally programmed; the underlying motor networks can generate the appropriate motor patterns in the absence of sensory feedback. “Central pattern generator” (CPG) networks for vertebrate locomotion are located and distributed in the spinal cord and produce the rhythmic locomotor pattern (Grillner, 1981).

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Authors
  1. Andrew D. McClellan
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology III, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Sten Grillner  & Hans Forssberg  & 

  2. Department of Biology, Washington University, St Louis, USA

    Paul S. G. Stein

  3. Department of Physiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA

    Douglas G. Stuart

  4. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Catholic Medical Center, Manchester, USA

    Richard M. Herman

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© 1986 The Wenner-Gren Center

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McClellan, A.D. (1986). Command Systems for Initiating Locomotion in Fish and Amphibians: Parallels to Initiation Systems in Mammals. In: Grillner, S., Stein, P.S.G., Stuart, D.G., Forssberg, H., Herman, R.M. (eds) Neurobiology of Vertebrate Locomotion. Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09148-5_1

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