WALKING OF CATS ON A GRID - PERFORMANCE OF LOCOMOTOR TASK IN SPINAL INTACT AND HEMISECTED CATS

We have investigated interlimb coordination during walking by observing locomotion of cats on a grid. Control cats made no error in forelimb placement on the grid, and landed their hindlimbs on the rung where each ipsilateral forelimb left moments earlier. This suggests that locomotor command signals were modified by grid information including its size and direction and affected the pattern generators of both forelimbs and hindlimbs. Hemisected cats, made both at high cervical and lower thoracic, showed deteriorated placement of the hindlimbs suggesting that interlimb coordination is carried out mainly by descending pathways from the brainstem such as ventrolateral fasciculus and dorsolateral fasciculus. Interlimb reflex pathways may play a limited role.