PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - D. de Kam
AU  - P.A. Iturralde
AU  - G. Torres-Oviedo
TI  - Cerebral contribution to the execution, but not recalibration, of motor commands in a novel walking environment
AID  - 10.1523/ENEURO.0493-19.2020
DP  - 2020 Jan 29
TA  - eneuro
PG  - ENEURO.0493-19.2020
4099  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2020/01/27/ENEURO.0493-19.2020.short
4100  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2020/01/27/ENEURO.0493-19.2020.full
AB  - Human movements are flexible as they continuously adapt to changes in the environment. The recalibration of corrective responses to sustained perturbations (e.g., constant force) altering one’s movement contributes to this flexibility. We asked whether the recalibration of corrective actions involve cerebral structures using stroke as a disease model. We characterized changes in muscle activity in stroke survivors and controls before, during, and after walking on a split-belt treadmill moving the legs at different speeds. The recalibration of corrective muscle activity was comparable between stroke survivors and controls, which was unexpected given the known deficits in feedback responses post-stroke. Also, the intact recalibration in stroke survivors contrasted their limited ability to adjust their muscle activity during steady state split-belt walking. Our results suggest that the recalibration and execution of motor commands are partially dissociable: cerebral lesions interfere with the execution, but not the recalibration, of motor commands upon novel movement demands.Significance statement Corrective responses mediated by feedback have been shown to adapt according to task demands. They also reflect updates in the recalibration of the motor system to sustained and predictable changes in the environment. The extent of cortical involvement in this process is unknown. Here we demonstrate that cortical lesions from stroke alter the execution of motor patterns, but not their recalibration. This is important since it suggests that stroke survivors retain the potential to correct movements through error-based protocols, which is an ability that could be exploited for rehabilitation purposes.