Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 7, Issue 1, January 1978, Pages 35-39
Neuroscience Letters

Motor reactions to perturbations of gait: proprioceptive and somesthetic involvement

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Abstract

If an obstacle impedes the forward swing of a cat's foot during stepping, the animal responds by rapidly lifting the foot over the obstacle. Electrical activity of hindlimb muscles was recorded during such reactions in conscious cats. After anaesthesia of the dorsum of the foot, some muscles no longer took part in the reactions and simple stretch responses were observed in the ankle flexors, which had previously shown a more complex pattern of activation. This result emphasizes the importance of cutaneous afferents in contributing to the control of motor responses to unexpected perturbations.

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    Citation Excerpt :

    The literature on the role of cutaneous afferents in locomotion is somewhat confusing. Removing cutaneous inputs from the paw by nerve section or anesthesia does not prevent locomotion (Sherrington, 1910; Engberg, 1964; Forssberg et al., 1977; Prochazka et al., 1978; Duysens and Stein, 1978). However, as mentioned before, preserving cutaneous inputs of the hands in deafferented forelimbs enables monkeys to use them during locomotion.

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Present address: Sherrington School of Physiology, St. Thomas' Hospital Medical School, Lambeth Palace Rd., London SE1 7EH U.K.

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