Brain complexity: finding how we balance (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, January 30, 2015, 19:01 (3585 days ago) @ David Turell

"Walking across an icy parking lot in winter -- and remaining upright -- takes intense concentration. But a new discovery suggests that much of the balancing act that our bodies perform when faced with such a task happens unconsciously, thanks to a cluster of neurons in our spinal cord that function as a "mini-brain" to integrate sensory information and make the necessary adjustments to our muscles so that we don't slip and fall.-"Another important characteristic of the ROR? neurons is that they don't just receive signals from the brain and the light touch sensors, but also directly connect with neurons in the ventral spinal cord that control movement. Thus, they are at the center of a "mini-brain" in the spinal cord that integrates signals from the brain with sensory signals to make sure the limbs move correctly.-"'We think these neurons are responsible for combining all of this information to tell the feet how to move," says Steeve Bourane, a postdoctoral researcher in Goulding's lab and first author on the new paper. "If you stand on a slippery surface for a long time, you'll notice your calf muscles get stiff, but you may not have noticed you were using them. Your body is on autopilot, constantly making subtle corrections while freeing you to attend to other higher-level tasks.'"-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150129132811.htm