Cutaneous and Motor Integration in the Spinal Cord

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The project to be performed examines neural mechanisms responsible for processing information coming from the skin and transforming that cutaneous information into an adaptive motor response. Dr. Paul Stein studies the scratch reflex, a complex behavior produced by the spinal cord. He has developed a spinal cord preparation that, in the absence of movement-related sensory feedback, selects which of the three distinct motor output patterns is an appropriate response to a tactile stimulus and generates that motor output pattern. The process of selection implies that a decision is made. Therefore, neural mechanisms for making motor decisions are intrinsic to the spinal cord. The goal of this project is to reveal these mechanisms.