| Abstract: | A comparative analysis of phases of the locomotor cycle and the dynamics of changes in hind limb joint angles during swimming and stepping movements (on a treadmill), involving the fore- and hind limbs to different degrees, were undertaken in rats. Differences in the sequence and degree of changes in joint angles during locomotion of the types investigated were participation of the forelimbs in locomotion was found to be accompanied by more marked forward carrying of the hind limb. Dependence of the swing phase on duration of the cycle was observed and differences were found in the period of protraction of the limb (F period) during swimming and stepping. The role of central spinal processes and influences of peripheral afferents in the formation of different types of locomotion is discussed.A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 189–198, March–April, 1985. |
