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Direct Motor Pathways

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The direct motor pathways, also known as the pyramidal tracts, are a group of neural pathways that originate in the brain and descend through the spinal cord. They control the voluntary movement of the body. There are two major direct motor pathways: the corticospinal and the corticobulbar tracts.
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Indirect Motor Pathways

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Updated: May 10, 2026

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Optogenetic dissection reveals multiple rhythmogenic modules underlying locomotion.

Martin Hägglund¹, Kimberly J Dougherty, Lotta Borgius

¹Mammalian Locomotor Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|June 27, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Spinal cord central pattern generators (CPGs) control locomotion. This study reveals CPGs have a distributed organization with many rhythm-generating modules, challenging previous network models.

Keywords:

channelrhodopsin-2 halorhodopsin interneurons motor neurons

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Computational Neuroscience

Background:

Central pattern generators (CPGs) in the spinal cord are crucial for locomotion.
The precise network architecture of vertebrate CPGs remains largely unknown and debated.
Understanding CPG organization is key to deciphering motor control.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the organization of the mammalian central pattern generator (CPG) for locomotion.
To differentiate among proposed models of vertebrate locomotor network architecture.
To elucidate the roles of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal populations in rhythm generation.

Main Methods:

Utilized optogenetics to precisely target and manipulate neuronal populations.
Probed the function of flexor and extensor networks within the spinal cord.
Recorded neuronal activity to assess rhythmic bursting patterns.

Main Results:

Locomotor-like rhythmic bursting was induced unilaterally and independently in flexor or extensor networks.
Individual flexor motor neuron pools could be recruited into bursting independently.
Demonstrated that the mammalian CPG is not reliant on a single, centralized oscillator.

Conclusions:

The mammalian CPG exhibits a distributed organization with multiple intrinsically rhythmogenic modules.
Findings challenge models requiring strict bilateral coordination or a single dominant rhythm generator.
Supports a flexible and modular architecture for spinal locomotor networks.