Evaluation of force feedback in walking using joint torques as ‘naturalistic‘ stimuli

What are the common features of force detection in vertebrates, insects and walking machines?  Do the sense organs signal different force qualities at different joints? In the podcast coauthors Professor Sasha Zill of Marshall University, Dr. Nicholas Szcecinski of the University of West Virginia and Professor Ansgar Büschges of the University of Cologne join Editor in Chief Professor Nino Ramirez to delve deeper into their manuscript titled “Evaluation of force feedback in walking using joint torques as 'naturalistic' stimuli.”  Sensory encoding of forces during walking by campaniform sensilla was characterized in stick insects using waveforms of joint torques calculated by inverse dynamics as mechanical stimuli. Tests using the mean joint torque and torques of individual steps showed the system is highly sensitive to force dynamics (dF/dt). Use of 'naturalistic' stimuli can reproduce characteristics of sensory discharges seen in freely walking insects, such as load transfer among legs.

Sasha N. Zill, Chris J. Dallmann, Nicholas S. Szczecinski, Ansgar Büschges, and Josef Schmitz

Journal of Neurophysiology 

https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00120.2021