# Computational and circuit mechanisms underlying motor control

> **NIH NIH U19** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $2,986,380

## Abstract

Understanding the mechanisms that the nervous system uses to control movement is critical for
understanding brain and behavior, and one of the fundamental questions in neuroscience. The
control of movement emerges from the activity of different motor control centers, that converge onto
output systems, mostly located in the spinal cord. While the spinal circuits that underlie different
aspects of motor control have been relatively well characterized, the way by which these circuits are
coordinated by supraspinal motor control centers remains elusive. In this project, we aim to
understand the functional and computational logic of connectivity between a motor control centers,
the motor cortex, and the spinal cord and muscle. We will anatomically and functionally characterize
the role of projection-specific populations of corticospinal neurons during particular modes of motor
control. Because even the simplest motor program requires the activation of many neuronal
populations across multiple brain areas, we will also investigate the contribution of other cortical and
subcortical areas to the output of the brain to the spinal cord, and to muscle activity. This
understanding requires It also requires extracting the information that is carried between brain areas
and neuronal cell types, and understanding the computations that are operated in the circuits in order
to achieve specific patterns of muscle activation. We will
extract computational principles governing
the relation between brain activity and muscle activity that are conserved between rodents and
 , and will construct predictive models of . In order
to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the brain circuits underlying motor control, we will
dissect the contributions of activity in specific neural populations using closed-loop optogenetic
manipulations. The level of understanding that we are seeking requires a dynamic back and forth
between anatomical and functional mapping experiments, computational and conceptual models,
and causal testing of predictions. We put together a a multidisciplinary team of PIs working in a tight
network, sharing the latest technologies to measure and manipulate the brain through an Advanced
Imaging and Instrumentation core, creating and refining circuit models based on data that generate
testable predictions, and establishing real-time knowledge exchange between team members
through a Data Science Core. Our U19BCP Motor Control team proposes a comprehensive and
ambitious project to establish the computational and circuit mechanisms underlying classical modes
of motor control based on cell-type specific connectivity between brain and spinal cord, novel
technology to measure and manipulate functionally and genetically-defined neural populations, and
state-of-the-art computational tools.
primates
multi-area dynamics during motor control

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9983178
- **Project number:** 5U19NS104649-04
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Rui M. Costa
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $2,986,380
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-25 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9983178

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9983178, Computational and circuit mechanisms underlying motor control (5U19NS104649-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9983178. Licensed CC0.

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