Collective Neuromechanics in Sea Stars

Animal locomotion arises from the interaction between motor commands from the nervous system and the body's mechanical properties. The field of neuromechanics has traditionally framed locomotion as a product of neural control, body mechanics, and sensory feedback. However, many animals deviate from this conventional paradigm. An example includes echinoderms that combine centralized nervous control with local control that is distributed across hundreds of their locally regulated tube feet that collectively generate locomotion. Here, we review our work combining animal experiments, robotics, and computational modeling to investigate the control architecture of sea stars. Based on our findings, we propose the concept of collective neuromechanics-a control architecture that balances centralized and local collective control among hundreds of autonomous appendages within a single system. This framework expands the scope of neuromechanics by incorporating collective behavior and offers insights into novel control architectures in both biological and engineered systems.