Modeling a vertebrate motor system: pattern generation, steering and control of body orientation.

The lamprey is one of the few vertebrates in which the neural control system for goal-directed locomotion including steering and control of body orientation is well described at a cellular level. In this report we review the modeling of the central pattern-generating network, which has been carried out based on detailed experimentation. In the same way the modeling of the control system for steering and control of body orientation is reviewed, including neuromechanical simulations and robotic devices.