Research

The advanced motor functions and cognitive abilities that human beings have acquired during evolution depend not only on the enlarged brain and refined skeletomuscular structure, but also on the evolution of the spinal cord, which is the crucial link between brain and body. However, over the past century, the spinal cord has been regarded only as the center of autonomous movements such as reflexes and gait, but the new function gained through the evolutionary changes are not well understood. We aim to elucidate the spinal cord function behind the advanced motor and cognitive abilities of primates by an experimental approach. Currently, research is underway using simultaneous multicellular recording techniques from the monkey spinal cord during voluntary movement, the closed-loop generation of volitional muscle activities in the spinal reflex circuit and the dynamic gain modulation mechanism of proprioceptive sensory signal by presynaptic inhibition on the primary afferents.