In the search for principles of pattern generation in complex biological systems, an
operational approach is presented that embraces both theory and experiment. The central …

How is load sensed by receptors, and how is this sensory information used to guide
locomotion? Many insights in this domain have evolved from comparative studies since it …

This paper reviews the development of our research on the motor consequences of
Mauthner cell function and related brainstem neurons. These cells activate fast-start …

“Sign stimuli” elicit specific patterns of behavior when an organism's motivation is
appropriate. In the toad, visually released prey-catching involves orienting toward the prey …

For navigation, animals use a robust internal compass. Compass navigation is crucial for
long-distance migrating animals like monarch butterflies, which use the sun to navigate over …

The following factors underlying behavioral plasticity are discussed:(1) reflex adaptability
and its role in the voluntary control of movement,(2) degrees of freedom and motor …

Several motor networks have now been found to be multifunctional, in which one group of
neurons participates in the generation of multiple behavioral motor programs. Not …

The morphology and electrophysiology of a newly identified bilateral pair of interneurones in
the central nervous system of the pulmonate pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis is described …

The steering responses of three species of field crickets, Teleogryllus oceanicus, T.
commodus, and Gryllus bimaculatus, were characterized during tethered flight using single …

In the natural world, animals make decisions on an ongoing basis, continuously selecting
which action to undertake next. In the lab, however, the neural bases of decision processes …