Figure 2.

The supraspinal control of gait in man. The figure at left shows the areas in the cerebellum and brainstem that are revealed to be active by fMRI during imagined walking; the superimposed designations are those of the locomotor areas that are known from experimental studies in animals (p<0.05 FDR, from [11]. The diagram at right shows the current concept of the supraspinal control of human gait. Impulses from the motor and premotor areas of the frontal cortex disinhibit brainstem locomotor areas by way of the basal ganglia. The signal to initiate or alter the pattern of movement travels from the midbrain via the pontomedullary reticular formation to the spinal generators. The rhythm and speed of gait are modulated by the cerebellum. Afferent signals from the limbs (blue) can modulate the pattern of gait through feedback loops, mainly by way of spinocerebellothalamic connections. CLR, cerebellar locomotor region; CPG, central pattern generator; MLR, midbrain locomotor region; PMRF, pontomedullary reticular formation; SLR, subthalamic locomotor region