Movement by animals including man, requires precise timing to be smooth and coordinated. The neurons which control movement have been in existence for millions of years and if we can understand how they work we will have fundamental knowledge for understanding numerous aspects of movement from designing robots to rehabilitating stroke victims. The proposed study will focus on one of the oldest vertebrates known . the lamprey. Its nervous system has to provide accurate wave motions through pattern generating nerves which can be recorded in vitro. Also the lamprey undergoes a protracted larval phase during which the pace maker neurons must change cell firing rates to maintain the exact phase of the rhythm even though the neurons are growing longer and thereby taking longer to fire the muscle. The study will provide both basic biological data of the cell firing patterns during fictive swimming and also a mathematical analysis of the stable and unstable patterns and phase shifts. The work should tell us much about very basic events in the control of movement.
