ABSTRACT
When observing an able-bodied individual walking across a room, the movement appears fluid and effortless. This graceful movement is achieved through a complex neural control system in which dozens of muscles must be activated and coordinated in the midst of an inherently unstable multiarticular system. The central nervous system integrates control commands that may be generated at cortical and spinal levels; it makes adjustments to these motor commands based on sensory feedback from a variety of sources including vestibular, visual, and somatosensory components; and it controls multi joint limbs using a variety of muscles, each of which have very different intrinsic dynamic mechanical properties.
