Integration of posture and locomotion in acute decerebrate cats and in awake, freely moving cats.

For the past 10 years, our group has been engaged in the study of posture and locomotion in decerebrate cats and in freely moving awake cats. Our initial objective was to analyse the neuronal mechanisms of locomotion from a viewpoint of "postural control". Therefore, in this review, I have focussed my attention on two major control aspects of the brain stem; one related to the interaction of posture and locomotion; and the other to initiation of locomotion. It is apparent that elucidation of the second aspect is feasible. In Fig. 15, I have summarized all the neuronal structures that have been functionally identified as being actively involved in the regulation of posture and locomotion. Obviously, contribution of the cerebello-cerebral pathways and the basal ganglia to both the postural and to the locomotor control cannot be elucidated in decerebrate preparations (Fig. 15A). These contributions can, to a certain degree, be elucidated in intact awake cats (Fig. 15B). Although it is difficult to directly compare the results obtained in the decerebrate cats with those obtained in intact cats, it has been encouraging that the selective activation of certain neuronal structures within the brain stem allowed us to evoke comparable postural and locomotor changes in both groups of preparations. It can be expected that the knowledge obtained from studies of the cerebello-cerebral pathways and of the basal ganglia, together with those that can be further obtained from studies of the brain stem, should result in the elucidation of the two major control aspects of the brain stem described above. In this sense, both the models of the decerebrate locomotor preparation and the freely moving, awake cat seem to provide an unique opportunity to study the nature and the sources of command signals that set the postural and the locomotor synergies into a single functional synergy, and even to approach elucidation of the intriguing question as to how and where volitional control signals for initiating and/or halting locomotion are organized. More than 70 years have passed since the pioneer studies by Sherrington (1906) and by Graham Brown (1911, 1914) on postural control and on locomotion, as exemplified by "decerebrate reflex standing, and stepping" and the "central rhythmic generator" relating to locomotion. Based on these discoveries, Shik, Severin and Orlovsky (1966) have made a splendid breakthrough in a wide area of investigation relating to locomotion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)