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Ankle restraint modifies motility at E12 in chick embryos
1Department of Biokinesiology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA.
Journal of Neurophysiology
|January 15, 2000
Summary
Embryonic chick movement changes as they grow, with ankle restraint significantly altering limb and wing motility by embryonic day 12. This suggests environmental conditions shape embryonic motor development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Neuroscience
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Embryonic development involves significant changes in environmental constraints on movement.
- Early embryonic motility is relatively unconstrained, becoming more restricted by gravity and shell contact as development progresses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how age-related changes in movement constraints affect embryonic motility.
- To determine if localized joint restraint alters embryonic activity patterns and limb movements.
- To explore the contribution of environmental experience to motor behavior development.
Main Methods:
- Applied a restraint to the right ankle of chick embryos at embryonic day 9 (E9) and E12.
- Utilized video and kinematic analyses to record and analyze embryonic limb movements.
- Quantified changes in motility parameters such as episode duration, joint excursion, and coordination.
Main Results:
- Ankle restraint had minimal effect at E9 but significantly modified motility parameters at E12.
- Restraint decreased episode duration and joint excursion parameters (range, cycles per sequence, velocity).
- Cycle period duration and low-frequency signal content increased with restraint; coordination showed mixed effects.
Conclusions:
- Environmental conditions, including mechanical constraints, contribute to the development of embryonic motility.
- Sensory feedback from leg movement perturbations may influence spinal circuits controlling limb coordination.
- Findings support the role of experience in shaping motor development from early embryonic stages.