Neural Basis of Movement
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this survey of how nervous systems control movement, from spinal reflexes to voluntary planning. Topics include sensory reception, reflex arcs, spinal cord organization, central pattern generators, muscle function, locomotion, and eye movement, along with cognitive aspects of motor control. The course examines the roles of the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cerebral cortex in generating and coordinating movement, and covers cortical plasticity, motor learning, computational models of motor control, and clinical motor disorders. Materials include lecture notes, readings, and assignments drawn from MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences curriculum, freely available under a Creative Commons license with no certificate offered. The course suits students with a background in neuroscience or physiology who want a systems-level view of how biological circuits produce coordinated action.