# Computational Modeling of Mouse Forelimb Movements

> **NIH DA R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2026 · $340,920

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Mouse forelimb movements are widely studied in systems neuroscience to study healthy and injured motor
networks (e.g., after stroke or cerebellar disease). This proposal builds on our novel musculoskeletal model of
the mouse forelimb to develop free and open-source tools for the neuroscience community to extract
biomechanical features that are difficult or impossible to measure experimentally and to investigate
hypothesized control architectures with artificial neural networks and physics-based simulations. In Aim 1, we
will develop a computational model based on optimal control theory to estimate muscle activity from kinematics
and optional electromyography as state-of-the-art experimental methods can only measure from 3-4 muscles
simultaneously out of the 25+ forelimb muscles. We will also develop a tool to predict mouse reaching
kinematics and muscle activity when there is a change in the task or limb biomechanics, which could help
reduce the number of experiments with mice. The computational models will be validated with experiments of
mice reaching to different pellet locations and with different weights placed on their limbs. In Aim 2, we will
demonstrate how to use the musculoskeletal model and physics engine to extract biomechanical features and
correlate them with neural activity in motor cortex and the cerebellum. This will allow to us to test hypotheses in
motor control such as whether interaction torques are represented in Purkinje cells' activity or whether motor
cortex drives an abstract representation of the limb or a detailed biomechanical model during reaching. We will
develop in silica networks and compare and contrast them with analogous neural structures. We will show that
by modeling these artificial networks with different assumptions and architectures, we will be able to dissociate
between hypotheses in motor control, such as whether the cerebellum implements a forward model or a
control policy during motor adaptation 

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11324188
- **Project number:** 5R01DA060790-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** MAZEN  AL BORNO; Abigail L Person; Cristin G Welle
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** DA
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $340,920
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2025-05-01T00:00:00 → 2028-03-31T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11324188

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11324188, Computational Modeling of Mouse Forelimb Movements (5R01DA060790-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11324188. Licensed CC0.

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