# CRCNS: Deconstructing dynamics of motor cortex in freely moving behavior

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $388,168

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions):
What operations are performed by the mammalian central nervous systems to coordinate and conduct 
voluntary movement? Motor systems neuroscience seeks to understand these neural mechanisms. The 
last two decades have witnessed a transformation in this field with the use of multielectrode recordings 
and statistical estimation and modeling techniques. These technological advances have yielded rich, 
low-dimensional neural dynamics that are suggestive of the mechanisms underlying behavior. To
minimize confounds, the overwhelming majority of these studies utilize behavioral constraint to isolate just 
the behaviors of interest for study. While effective for generating many behaviorally similar trials, this may 
have the unintentional consequence of artificially constraining neural dynamics to a subset of its full
range.
This project seeks to better understand the full repertoire of behavior in a freely-moving setting and model 
this neural activity using novel computational tools. This project combines the expertise of two 
neuroscientists with complemenary skillsets spanning systems and computational neuroscience. This 
project will involve acquiring novel, freely-moving data using the recent advances in depth imaging 
cameras and modeling the dynamics of the labelled neural data with innovative switching dynamical 
models.
TThis combined expertise will be applied to the investigation of the initiation vs sustaining of movement, 
the decomposition of walking periods into distinct dynamical regimes, and an analysis of foraging 
behavior.
Taken together, these studies will further our understanding of how neural dynamics drive unconstrained 
motor behavior. This insight has implications for the development of ambulatory brain-machine interfaces 
and may inform the treatment of individuals with motor disorders such as stroke.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10832624
- **Project number:** 5R01NS130789-03
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Scott Warren Linderman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $388,168
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-07-15 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10832624

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10832624, CRCNS: Deconstructing dynamics of motor cortex in freely moving behavior (5R01NS130789-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10832624. Licensed CC0.

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