'Electric' fish shed light on ways the brain directs movement

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Native to South America the glass knifefishs ability to emits weak electrical signals makes it a superb subject for the study of how the brain uses sensory information to control locomotion. Credit: Noah CowanJHU
Native to South America, the glass knifefish's ability to emits weak electrical signals makes it a superb subject for the study of how the brain uses sensory information to control locomotion. Credit: Noah Cowan/JHU

Scientists have long struggled to figure out how the brain guides the complex movement of our limbs, from the graceful leaps of ballerinas to the simple everyday act of picking up a cup of coffee. Using tools from robotics and neuroscience, two Johns Hopkins University researchers have found some tantalizing clues in an unlikely mode of motion: the undulations of tropical fish.


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