WWW.JNEUROSCI.ORG
-
The Journal of Neuroscience
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     
-


HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP
The Journal of Neuroscience, March 25, 2009, 29(12):3897-3907; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0089-09.2009

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Page, K. L.
Right arrow Articles by Matheson, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Page, K. L.
Right arrow Articles by Matheson, T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Functional Recovery of Aimed Scratching Movements after a Graded Proprioceptive Manipulation

Keri L. Page1 and Thomas Matheson1,2

1Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom, and 2Department of Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom

Correspondence should be addressed to Thomas Matheson, Department of Biology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. Email: tm75{at}le.ac.uk

To demonstrate the role of proprioceptive feedback in aimed limb movements, we induced graded changes in the signals provided by the principal receptor in a leg of a locust. The femoro-tibial chordotonal organ (FCO) of the hindleg monitors extension and flexion movements of the tibia and provides the main source of proprioceptive feedback about tibial kinematics. The FCO apodeme (tendon) was surgically shortened by different amounts to provide a systematic bias to this feedback, and aimed scratching movements were analyzed over the week after surgery. Shortening the apodeme led to increased firing of sensory neurons of the FCO at flexed joint angles and is thus functionally similar to flexing the tibia. Immediately after surgery, limb movements shifted dorsally and posteriorly, driven by overextension of the femoro-tibial joint and changes at other joints of the limb. The extent of tibial overextension reflected the extent of apodeme shortening. Overextension would tend to renormalize the FCO feedback signal and can be explained by known interjoint reflex pathways. Our data demonstrate that proprioceptive feedback provides a graded signal that is used to control these aimed limb movements. Over the course of 7 d after surgery, there was a functional recovery in aiming as the overall patterns of movement returned toward control values driven by reciprocal compensatory changes at two joints. The sensory to motor pathways are monosynaptic and oligosynaptic in this system, thus providing us with a powerful opportunity to investigate further the sensorimotor transformations and plasticity of aimed limb movements.

Received Jan. 8, 2009; revised Feb. 2, 2009; accepted Feb. 26, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Thomas Matheson, Department of Biology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. Email: tm75{at}le.ac.uk






 -
-

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help
-
Copyright 2009 by Society for Neuroscience ONLINE ISSN: 1529-2401
-