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The Role of Muscle Spindle Feedback in the Guidance of Hindlimb Movement by the Ipsilateral Forelimb during Locomotion in Mice.

ABSTRACT: Safe and efficient locomotion relies on placing the foot on a reliable surface at the end of each leg swing movement. Visual information has been shown to be important for determining the location of foot placement in humans during walking when precision is required. Yet in quadrupedal animals where the hindlimbs are outside of the visual field, such as in mice, the mechanisms by which precise foot placement is achieved remain unclear. Here we show that the placement of the hindlimb paw is determined by the position of the forelimb paw during normal locomotion and in the presence of perturbations. When a perturbation elicits a stumbling corrective reaction, we found that the forelimb paw shifts posteriorly relative to body at the end of stance, and this spatial shift is echoed in hindlimb paw placement at the end of the swing movement. Using a mutant mouse line in which muscle spindle feedback is selectively removed, we show that this posterior shift of paw placement is dependent on muscle spindle feedback in the hindlimb but not in the forelimb. These findings uncover a neuronal mechanism that is independent of vision to ensure safe locomotion during perturbation. This mechanism adds to our general knowledge of how the nervous system controls targeted limb movements and could inform the development of autonomous walking machines.

SUBMITTER: Mayer WP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8641919 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The main criteria for lameness assessment in horses are head movement for forelimb lameness and pelvic movement for hindlimb lameness. However, compensatory head nod in horses with primary hindlimb lameness is a well-known phenomenon. This compensatory head nod movement can be easily misinterpreted as a sign of primary ipsilateral forelimb lameness. Therefore, discriminating compensatory asymmetries from primary directly pain-related movement asymmetries is a prerequisite for successful lameness assessment. OBJECTIVES:To investigate the association between head, withers and pelvis movement asymmetry in horses with induced forelimb and hindlimb lameness. STUDY DESIGN:Experimental study. METHODS:In 10 clinically sound Warmblood riding horses, forelimb and hindlimb lameness were induced using a sole pressure model. The horses were then trotted on a treadmill. Three-dimensional optical motion capture was used to collect kinematic data from reflective markers attached to the poll, withers and tubera sacrale. The magnitude and side (left or right) of the following symmetry parameters, vertical difference in minimum position, maximum position and range-up were calculated for head, withers, and pelvis. Mixed models were used to analyse data from induced forelimb and hindlimb lameness. RESULTS:For each mm increase in pelvic asymmetry in response to hindlimb lameness induction, withers movement asymmetry increased by 0.35-0.55 mm, but towards the contralateral side. In induced forelimb lameness, for each mm increase in head movement asymmetry, withers movement asymmetry increased by 0.05-0.10 mm, in agreement with the head movement asymmetry direction, both indicating lameness in the induced forelimb. MAIN LIMITATIONS:Results must be confirmed in clinically lame horses trotting overground. CONCLUSIONS:The vertical asymmetry pattern of the withers discriminated a head nod associated with true forelimb lameness from the compensatory head movement asymmetry caused by primary hindlimb lameness. Measuring movement symmetry of the withers may, thus, aid in determining primary lameness location.

Dataset Information

The Role of Muscle Spindle Feedback in the Guidance of Hindlimb Movement by the Ipsilateral Forelimb during Locomotion in Mice.

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