PUBLICATION
Control of Movement Initiation Underlies the Development of Balance
- Authors
- Ehrlich, D.E., Schoppik, D.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-170124-11
- Date
- 2017
- Source
- Current biology : CB 27(3): 334-344 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Ehrlich, David, Schoppik, David
- Keywords
- control, freely moving, growth, locomotion, morphology, pitch, sensorimotor, swimming, vestibular, zebrafish
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Behavior, Animal/physiology*
- Biomechanical Phenomena
- Feedback, Sensory*
- Larva/physiology
- Locomotion
- Postural Balance*
- Rheology
- Swimming
- Zebrafish/growth & development
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- PubMed
- 28111151 Full text @ Curr. Biol.
Citation
Ehrlich, D.E., Schoppik, D. (2017) Control of Movement Initiation Underlies the Development of Balance. Current biology : CB. 27(3):334-344.
Abstract
Balance arises from the interplay of external forces acting on the body and internally generated movements. Many animal bodies are inherently unstable, necessitating corrective locomotion to maintain stability. Understanding how developing animals come to balance remains a challenge. Here we study the interplay among environment, sensation, and action as balance develops in larval zebrafish. We first model the physical forces that challenge underwater balance and experimentally confirm that larvae are subject to constant destabilization. Larvae propel in swim bouts that, we find, tend to stabilize the body. We confirm the relationship between locomotion and balance by changing larval body composition, exacerbating instability and eliciting more frequent swimming. Intriguingly, developing zebrafish come to control the initiation of locomotion, swimming preferentially when unstable, thus restoring preferred postures. To test the sufficiency of locomotor-driven stabilization and the developing control of movement timing, we incorporate both into a generative model of swimming. Simulated larvae recapitulate observed postures and movement timing across early development, but only when locomotor-driven stabilization and control of movement initiation are both utilized. We conclude the ability to move when unstable is the key developmental improvement to balance in larval zebrafish. Our work informs how emerging sensorimotor ability comes to impact how and why animals move when they do.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping