The nature of the coupling between segmental oscillators of the lamprey spinal generator for locomotion: a...

We present a theoretical model which is used to explain the intersegmental coordination of the neural networks responsible for generating locomotion in the isolated spinal cord of lamprey. A simplified mathematical model of a limit cycle oscillator is presented which consists of only a single dependent variable, the phase theta(t). By coupling N such oscillators together we are able to generate stable phase locked motions which correspond to traveling waves in the spinal cord, thus simulating "fictive swimming". We are also able to generate irregular "drifting" motions which are compared to the experimental data obtained from cords with selective surgical lesions.