McVea D A, Pearson K G
Department of Physiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H7, Canada.
J Neurosci. 2006 Jan 25;26(4):1175-8. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4458-05.2006.
We examined the ways in which memories of previously seen obstacles can alter the stepping of walking cats. Cats were paused after the forelegs, but not the hindlegs, had stepped over an obstacle. Near the beginning of a variable delay period, the obstacle was lowered. On the subsequent step, the path of the hindlegs allowed us to make inferences about whether the memory of the obstacle was influencing leg movements. We present two main findings. First, the memory of the obstacle persisted for the duration that the animal straddled the original location of the obstacle. In one instance, this interval was 10 min. Second, this memory includes information regarding the size and position of the obstacle relative to the animal. This information is used to plan foot placement and to redirect the step in mid-swing to avoid the previous position of the obstacle.
我们研究了对先前看到的障碍物的记忆能够改变行走猫的步姿的方式。在前腿(而非后腿)跨过障碍物后,猫会暂停。在可变延迟期即将开始时,障碍物被降下。在随后的一步中,后腿的路径使我们能够推断出对障碍物的记忆是否正在影响腿部运动。我们呈现了两个主要发现。第一,对障碍物的记忆在动物跨越障碍物原来位置的这段时间内持续存在。在一个实例中,这段间隔为10分钟。第二,这种记忆包括有关障碍物相对于动物的大小和位置的信息。该信息用于规划脚部落点,并在摆动中期重新引导步伐以避开障碍物先前所在的位置。