Controlling Actions
A fundamental job of the brain is to produce actions. Emeritus Professor Emilio Bizzi examined how the brain handles the enormous complexity involved in making even the simplest movement. One of his key discoveries was that groups of muscles are activated synergistically by circuits of neurons in the spinal cord. He argued that these synergies represent fundamental building blocks for assembling repertoires of complex movements and might be used to restore limb movements compromised by stroke or muscle injury.
