Role of Proprioceptive Feedback in Mouse Locomotion

Turgay Akay, PhD
Department of Medical Neuroscience
Dalhousie University

Abstract
To generate locomotor behavior, the nervous system must precisely regulate the timing and the strength (locomotor pattern) of multiple flexor and extensor muscle contractions controlling movement at the three joints of the hindlimb. These locomotor patterns are generated by the combined actions of a network of interconnected interneurons within the spinal cord (the central pattern generator) and sensory feedback from the periphery, but how these two components are integrated and collectively act to control movement remain obscure. Using an interdisciplinary approach including mouse genetics, in vivo electrophysiology, motion analysis, and computational methods, I will discuss recent findings in my laboratory addressing the role of proprioceptive sensory feedback in locomotor pattern generation.

About the Speaker
Turgay Akay completed an undergraduate degree in fisheries engineering at Süleyman Demirel University in Turkey. His interest in animal behaviour led him back to Germany, where he was born, to pursue a diploma degree in biology at the University of Bielefeld and a PhD at the University of Cologne’s Institute for Zoology. His PhD thesis addressed the role of sensory feedback in interjoint coordination in insect walking. Upon completing his PhD in 2002, Dr. Akay re-located to North America. Following postdoctoral stints at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Michael Nusbaum and University of Alberta with Dr. Keir Pearson, Dr. Akay made the move to Columbia University, where he worked with Dr. Tom Jessell and later became an associate research scientist at Columbia’s Center for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease. Already a long-time collaborator with Dalhousie’s motor neuron researchers, Dr. Akay made the move to Halifax in 2014 to join the Department of Medical Neuroscience as an Assistant Professor.

Physiology Brownbag Seminars
The Physiology Group in the School of Biological Sciences hosts Brownbag Lunchtime Seminars twice a month on Wednesdays at noon in room 1253 of the Applied Physiology Building located at 555 14th Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30318. You are welcome to bring a lunch and join us as we ruminate with us on topics in Physiology! A full listing of seminars can be found at http://pwp.gatech.edu/bmmc/physiology-brownbag-seminars-spring-2019/.

Host: Boris I. Prilutsky, Ph.D.