Sensory control of leg movement in the stick insect Carausius morosus

Hind legs with crossed receptor-apodemes of the femoral chordotonal organ when making a step during walking often do not release the ground after reaching the extreme posterior position. After putting a clamp on the trochanter (stimulation of the campaniform sensilla) the leg is no longer protracted during walking. However, during searching-movements the same leg is moved very far forwards. The anatomical situation of the campaniform sensilla on the trochanter and the sensory innervation of the trochanter is described. After removal of the hair-rows and continuously stimulating the hair-plate at the thorax-coxa-joint the extreme anterior and posterior positions of the leg in walking are displaced in the posterior direction. Front and middle legs operated in this way sometimes do not release the ground at the end of retraction. In searching-movements the same leg is moved in a normal way. If only one side of a decerebrated animal goes over a step, then on the other side a compensatory effect is observed. The main source of this compensatory information appears to be the BF1-hair-plates. If the animal has to drag a weight the extreme anterior and posterior positions of the middle and hind legs are displaced in the anterior direction. Crossing the receptor-apodeme of the femoral chordotonal organ, when it causes the leg to remain in the protraction phase, displaces the extreme posterior position of the ipsilateral leg in front of the operated one in the posterior direction. Influences of different sources on the extreme posterior position can superimpose. A model is presented which combines both a central programme and peripheral sensory influence. The word “programme” used here means that it does not only determine the motor output but also determines the reactions to particular afferences. The fact that the reaction to a stimulus depends on the internal state of the CNS is also represented by the model.

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