Manifold view of spinal motor control: A paradigm in motion

The neural manifold framework has transformed our understanding of cortical motor control, focusing on population dynamics that is constrained to low-dimensional structures in state space, where behaviors correspond to structured trajectories with characteristic topology. Yet the spinal cord, which houses the core circuitry responsible for rhythmic motor output such as walking, has remained largely unexplored from a manifold perspective. For decades, spinal motor function has been interpreted either through the lens of alternating flexor/extensor modules or through genetic characterization of interneurons. Both approaches struggle to amalgamate and explain how movement is flexibly generated, adapted, and stopped without losing posture. Here, we assess a new direction in spinal motor research with a focus on limbed locomotion, although we propose a general relevance, and argue that the neural manifold framework represents a complementary paradigm with the capacity to explain issues where the traditional view comes short.