We studied the femur-tibia joint control system of the insect leg, and its switch between resistance reflex in posture control and "active reaction" in walking. The "active reaction" is basically a reversal of the resistance reflex. Both responses are elicited by the same sensory input and the same neuronal network (the femur-tibia network). The femur-tibia network was modeled by fitting the responses of model neurons to those obtained in animals. Each implemented neuron has a physiological counterpart. The strengths of 16 interneuronal pathways that integrate sensory input were then assigned three different values and varied independently, generating a database of more than 43 million network variants. The uploaded version contains the model that best represented the resistance reflex. Please see the README for more help. We demonstrate that the combinatorial code of interneuronal pathways determines motor output. A switch between different behaviors such as standing to walking can thus be achieved by altering the strengths of selected sensory integration pathways.

Model Type: Realistic Network; Neuron or other electrically excitable cell; Synapse

Cell Type(s): Stick insect nonspiking interneuron

Model Concept(s): Detailed Neuronal Models; Invertebrate; Synaptic Integration

Simulation Environment: MadSim

Implementer(s): Mader, Wolfgang [wolfgang.mader at uni-ulm.de]

References:

Stein W, Straub O, Ausborn J, Mader W, Wolf H. (2008). Motor pattern selection by combinatorial code of interneuronal pathways. Journal of computational neuroscience. 25 [PubMed]