ISEK 2016 - Workshop ‘The role of afferent feedback in generating our most
rapid motor responses’
Organizers:
- Winfred Mugge (Delft University of Technology)
- Francisco Valero-Cuevas (University of Southern California)
- Kian Jalaleddini (University of Southern California)
- Jonathan Shemmell (University of Otago)
- Alfred C. Schouten (Delft University of Technology)
Abstract: In many everyday activities such as steering a bicycle, unpredictable disturbances trigger
quick involuntary motor responses, generally referred to as reflexes. Even our most rapid motor
actions, display a remarkable capacity for task-appropriate modulation, which raises questions about
traditional divisions between voluntary and involuntary responses.
Most studies investigating reflex function have relied upon one of two common experimental
paradigms, transient and continuous joint perturbations, each leading to distinct conclusions about
the task-specific nature of reflex expression. Researchers using transient perturbations to elicit
reflexive muscle activity have typically identified a stereotyped and task-independent short-latency
response being followed by flexible and task-dependent long-latency responses. In contrast, studies
employing continuous perturbations and system identification techniques to separate reflex from
voluntary contributions have produced evidence of task-dependency in both short- and long-latency
responses.
This workshop will address both experimental methods and their opposing experimental findings and
aim to bridge them. The mechanoreceptors and neural circuits underlying reflex function also
provide feedback to the higher levels of the central nervous system via polysynaptic and transcortical
reflex loops and/or voluntary interventions. This workshop will focus on these neural pathways
involved in generating rapid, quasi-involuntary responses to environmental stimuli, in particular, how
multiple pathways may interact to produce ‘involuntary’ responses that demonstrate flexibility
reminiscent of actions under voluntary control. The overview of mechanisms of muscle afferentation
that the workshop will provide, e.g. Golgi tendon (or inverse myotatic) reflex, autogenic inhibition,
reciprocal inhibition, reciprocal excitation, alpha-gamma coactivation, will set the scene for future
research and illuminate the potential roles of these spinal and supra-spinal mechanisms to produce
able and pathologic motor function. Finally, the workshop will challenge the participants to develop a
model for the neural substrates underlying supraspinal regulation of involuntary responses.
Workshop program July 5th – Room: Toronto
Session 1: “Insight into neural mechanisms of afferent pathways learned from neural recordings,
mathematical modeling and real-time neuromorphic simulations”. (Chair: Winfred Mugge)
8:00-8:30h
Andrew Pruszynski (Western University)
8:30-9:00h
Charles J Heckman (Northwestern University)
9:00-9:30h
Jerry Loeb (University of Southern California)
9:30-10:00h
Break – Room: Regency Foyer
Session 2: “Understanding healthy and pathologic reflex functions”. (Chair: Francisco ValeroCuevas)
10:00-10:30h
Kian Jalaleddini / Francisco Valero-Cuevas (University of Southern California)
10:30-11:00h
Michael Dimitriou (Umeå University)
11:00-11:30h
Jurriaan H. de Groot (Leiden University Medical Center)
11:30-12:00h
Claire Honeycutt (Arizona State University)
12:00-13:00h
Lunch - Room: Regency Foyer
Session 3: “Contributions of muscle afferents to the regulation of single- and multi-joint rapid
responses”. (Chair: Jonathan Shemmell)
13:00-13:30h
Isaac Kurtzer (New York Institute of Technology)
13:30-14:00h
Robert E. Kearney (McGill University)
14:00-14:30h
Winfred Mugge (Delft University of Technology)
14:30-15:00h
Panel Discussion