Scaling of sensorimotor control in terrestrial mammals

Sensorimotor control is greatly affected by two factors—the time it takes for an animal to sense and respond to stimuli (responsiveness), and the ability of an animal to distinguish between sensory stimuli and generate graded muscle forces (resolution). Here, we demonstrate that anatomical limitatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2010-12, Vol.277 (1700), p.3563-3568
Main Authors: More, Heather L., Hutchinson, John R., Collins, David F., Weber, Douglas J., Aung, Steven K. H., Donelan, J. Maxwell
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Axons
Axons - physiology
Axons - ultrastructure
Body Size
Conduction
Conduction Velocity
Electrophysiology
Elephantidae
Elephants
Elephants - physiology
Feedback, Sensory - physiology
Legs
Locomotion
Mammal
Mammals
Mammals - physiology
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Muscles
Nerve
Nerves
Scaling
Sciatic nerve
Sensorimotor
Shrews
Shrews - physiology
Species Specificity
Time Factors
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Summary:Sensorimotor control is greatly affected by two factors—the time it takes for an animal to sense and respond to stimuli (responsiveness), and the ability of an animal to distinguish between sensory stimuli and generate graded muscle forces (resolution). Here, we demonstrate that anatomical limitations force a necessary trade-off between responsiveness and resolution with increases in animal size. To determine whether responsiveness is prioritized over resolution, or resolution over responsiveness, we studied how size influences the physiological mechanisms underlying sensorimotor control. Using both new electrophysiological experiments and existing data, we determined the maximum axonal conduction velocity (CV) in animals ranging in size from shrews to elephants. Over the 100-fold increase in leg length, CV was nearly constant, increasing proportionally with mass to the 0.04 power. As a consequence, larger animals are burdened with relatively long physiological delays, which may have broad implications for their behaviour, ecology and evolution, including constraining agility and requiring prediction to help control movements.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2010.0898