Masino Lab

Most rhythmic motor patterns in animals, including breathing, chewing, limbed locomotion, and undulatory swimming are programmed in part by neural circuits called central pattern generators. These pattern generators often have, at their core, rhythmically active neurons or neural networks. The study of these pattern generators has yielded insight not only into the origins of rhythmic activity, but also into the functioning and modulation of neural networks in general. My primary interest is to understand how spinal circuits are structurally and functionally organized to generate different rhythmic motor patterns. In vertebrates, neural circuits are located in spinal cord and mediate rhythmic movements by the activation of spinal motor neurons via premotor interneurons. Therefore, different movements must, in part, be determined by the differences in activity of the spinal premotor interneurons.