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Related Experiment Videos

Innate versus learned movements--a false dichotomy?

Sten Grillner1, Peter Wallén

  • 1Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-17177 Stockholm, Sweden. sten.grillner@neuro.ki.se

Progress in Brain Research
|December 5, 2003
PubMed
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Vertebrate nervous systems possess a motor infrastructure enabling voluntary movements, from locomotion to speech. This challenges the learned versus innate movement distinction, highlighting neural plasticity and maturation from birth.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Comparative Biology

Background:

  • Vertebrate nervous systems exhibit a complex motor repertoire.
  • Current understanding often distinguishes between innate and learned movements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose the concept of a "motor infrastructure" in vertebrates.
  • To re-evaluate the classification of motor patterns as voluntary or involuntary.
  • To challenge the dichotomy of learned versus innate movements.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of motor control mechanisms.
  • Review of existing literature on vertebrate motor systems.
  • Argumentation based on neural plasticity and developmental maturation.

Main Results:

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  • Vertebrate nervous systems are equipped with a "motor infrastructure" for species-specific motor repertoires.
  • Diverse motor patterns, including locomotion, feeding, speech, and fine motor skills, are voluntary and can be recruited at will.
  • Most motor patterns undergo maturation and significant modification through learning post-birth.

Conclusions:

  • The distinction between learned and innate movements is based on a misconception.
  • Motor control is characterized by a unified voluntary system influenced by maturation and learning.
  • The concept of "motor infrastructure" provides a framework for understanding neural control of movement.