9507479 Coordinated movement requires both a neural plan and information about the biomechanics of muscles and skeleton. The implementation of the plan is a pattern of activation of motor neurons and muscles that produces the movement. The goal of this research is to understand the construction of implementation patterns that control complex movement, and the biomechanical constraints under which they work. The model system is prey capture by frogs. Prey capture is easy to stimulate in the laboratory, and is a complex movement that requires rapid coordination of several pairs of antagonistic muscles. The research uses a multidisciplinary approach combining biomechanics and neurobiology to determine how the design of the musculoskeletal system interacts with muscle activity to produce movement. Comparisons within and between species that differ in size will show how muscle activity and movement patterns are related to body size among animals of similar shape. The morphology of the feeding apparatus, the movements associated with feeding behavior, and the pattern of muscle activation will be analyzed simultaneously. These studies will provide insight into how muscle activation strategies change with body size. A second approach will compare musculoskeletal design, muscle activity, movement patterns and feeding performance among species that differ in shape. This will show how musculoskeletal design and muscle activity patterns have evolved to produce particular movement patterns and performance characteristics like speed, accuracy, and efficiency. The results of this research will have broad implications for understanding the neural control of movement and its evolution.
