View article

Cats spinalized (Th 12) a week or two after birth can, when they grow up, occasionally use their hindlimbs for walking 1~, although the hindquarter tends to fall to one side due to a reduced equilibrium control. However, when the cats are placed on a treadmill, this deficit can be compensated for by holding the tail. Then the cats can walk or gallop according to the speed of the treadmill belt with enough force to support their body weight and with patterns of joint angles and EMG similar to that of the intact cat 6.

In the present experiments the ability of such chronic spinal cats to meet with obstacles impeding the foot during locomotion was investigated (21 experiments in 2 cats). When tactile stimulation is applied to the dorsum of the foot during the swing phase, the whole limb invariably enhances its flexion so as to overcome the obstacle, and then continues walking. Fig. 1A shows redrawings from a film (64 frames/sec …