Neuromuscular Basis of Locomotor Behaviors in Lower Vertebrates

我们目前缺乏对下脊椎动物运动行为的神经肌肉基础的广泛的比较理解。值得注意的是，以前没有研究定量测量过蝾螈轴肌活动，而蝾螈是现存最原始的四足脊椎动物。对鱼和蝾螈运动行为的拟议研究将同时检查轴向运动和肌肉活动的潜在模式（运动模式）。通过对不同体型、不同体节数、有肢动物与无肢动物的比较，探讨形态学对运动模式的影响。通过改变黏度和确定陆地和水生运动的运动模式，可以确定环境对运动模式的影响。轴向运动模式在大范围的速度、分类群和环境条件下的比较，将有助于检查运动行为中神经控制的可塑性。

We presently lack a broad comparative understanding of the neuromuscular basis of lower vertebrate locomotor behavior. Notably, no previous study has quantitatively measured axial muscle activity in salamanders which are the most primitive extant tetrapodal vertebrates. The proposed research on fish and salamander locomotor behavior will simultaneously examine axial movements and the underlying patterns of muscle activity (the motor pattern). By comparing taxa with different shapes, numbers of body segments and limbed versus limbless animals, the influence of morphology on motor pattern will be assessed. By altering viscosity and determining the motor pattern for terrestrial and aquatic locomotion, the influence of the environment on the motor pattern will be determined. Comparisons of axial motor patterns over a wide range of speeds, taxa, and environmental conditions will allow examination of the plasticity of neural control in locomotor behaviors.