Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Combining Multiple Data Acquisition Systems to Study Corticospinal Output and Multi-segment Biomechanics
Published on: January 9, 2016
Combining modules for movement
E Bizzi1, V C K Cheung, A d'Avella
1Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy 46-6189, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. ebizzi@mit.edu
Abstract:
We review experiments supporting the hypothesis that the vertebrate motor system produces movements by combining a small number of units of motor output. Using a variety of approaches such as microstimulation of the spinal cord, NMDA iontophoresis, and an examination of natural behaviors in intact and deafferented animals we have provided evidence for a modular organization of the spinal cord. A module is a functional unit in the spinal cord that generates a specific motor output by imposing a specific pattern of muscle activation. Such an organization might help to simplify the production of movements by reducing the degrees of freedom that need to be specified.
Related Concept Videos
Movement Joints in Buildings
The simplest type of movement joints, working joints, are...
Fluid Movement Between Compartments
Vector Functions and Motion: Problem Solving
Composite Bodies
Composite bodies have widespread applications in mechanical engineering, from automobiles to aircraft to rockets. For example, an automobile wheel comprises...
Muscle Coordination and Action
Agonists
Agonist muscles, often called prime movers, are the primary muscles responsible for producing a specific movement.
Method of Joints
Since plane truss members are in the same plane, each joint is subjected to a coplanar and concurrent force system. To apply the method of joints, the first step is to...
