harnad@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Stevan Harnad) (12/14/88)
Below is the abstract of a forthcoming target article to appear in
Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), an international,
interdisciplinary journal that provides Open Peer Commentary on important
and controversial current research in the biobehavioral and cognitive
sciences. Commentators must be current BBS Associates or nominated by a
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ON THE FUNCTION OF MUSCLE AND REFLEX PARTITIONING
Uwe Windhorst (Physiology, Gottingen University)
Thomas M. Hamm (Barrow Neurological Institute)
Douglas G. Stewart (University of Arizona)
Localized stretch reflexes, the partitioning of sensory input for
muscles, and the partitioning of segmental pathways to motor nuclei
have been demonstrated in the mammalian neuromuscular system. This
suggests that individual motor nuclei and the muscles they innervate
are not homogeneous functional units. Functional analysis of reflex
localization and partitioning suggests that segmental control
mechanisms are based on subdivisions of motor nucleus/muscle
complexes. A partitioned organization of segmental control mechanisms
may provide a number of functional advantages for the control of
neuromuscular systems with complex structure and organization.
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