From Spinal Modules to Collective Coordination: Principles of Locomotor Control

Host

Corinna Gebehart, PhD, Sensorimotor Integration

Venue

Seminar room

Abstract

Locomotion displays remarkable flexibility, allowing animals to adjust movement speed and vigor according to changing environmental demands and internal states. This adaptability arises from the modular organisation of spinal locomotor circuits, which transform descending commands from the brainstem and integrate proprioceptive feedback. Abdel will discuss how this modular architecture provides intrinsic mechanisms for tuning locomotor speed and vigor, and how proprioceptive signals are incorporated to regulate both individual motor outputs and coordinated movement patterns. Finally, it will be explored how these circuit principles extend to collective coordination during social behaviours, highlighting shared neural strategies for organising movement across individual and group contexts.

Bio

Abdel El Manira is a Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute. His research explores the neural circuit principles that transform brain activity into coordinated movement. By uncovering the modular organisation of locomotor networks and the active role of motor neurons within them, his work has provided a conceptual framework for understanding how flexibility and precision emerge in vertebrate motor control. El Manira is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Royal Academy of Sciences and Technologies of Morocco, and the Academia Europaea, and serves on the Nobel Assembly and Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute. 


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About CR Colloquia Series

Champalimaud Research (CR) Colloquia Series is a seminar programme organised by the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown to promote the discussion about the most interesting and significant questions in neuroscience and physiology & cancer with appointed speakers by the CR Community.