Once thought to only regulate walking, the brain’s mesencephalic locomotor region controls a series of different body movements. (Picture: Biozentrum, University of Basel)
Once thought to only regulate walking, the brain's mesencephalic locomotor region controls a series of different body movements. (Picture: Biozentrum, University of Basel) - For decades, a key brain area has been thought to merely regulate locomotion. Now, a research group at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, and the Friedrich Miescher Institut for Biomedical Research (FMI) has shown that the region is involved in much more than walking, as it contains distinct populations of neurons that control different body movements. The findings could help to improve certain therapies for Parkinson's disease. Even the mundane act of walking requires complex movements such as postural changes and the coordination of all four limbs. Scientists have known that the mesencephalic locomotor region, which is part of the midbrain, is involved in regulating walking and other forms of locomotion in many animal species. But the function of neurons in this area of the brain remained controversial.
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