Related papers: Excitable mechanics embodied in a walking cilium

Undulatory locomotion is a means of self-propulsion that relies on the generation and propagation of waves along a body. As a mode of locomotion it is primitive and relatively simple, yet can be remarkably robust. No wonder then, that it is…

Mechanical forces influence the development and behavior of biological tissues. In many situations these forces are exerted or resisted by elastic compliant structures such as the own-tissue cellular matrix or other surrounding tissues.…

The Drosophila larva, a soft-body animal, can bend its body and roll efficiently to escape danger. However, contrary to common belief, this rolling motion is not driven by the imbalance of gravity and ground reaction forces. Through…

Detecting and quantifying non-equilibrium activity is essential for studying internally driven assemblies, including synthetic active matter and complex living systems such as cells or tissue. We discuss a non-invasive approach of measuring…

We consider a finite-dimensional model for the motion of microscopic organisms whose propulsion exploits the action of a layer of cilia covering its surface. The model couples Newton's laws driving the organism, considered as a rigid body,…

Activity and renewability are distinctive features of living matter, and constitute a new class of materials that we term renewable active matter. A striking example is the cell cytoskeleton, where myosin filaments bind to the actin…

Human locomotion emerges from high-dimensional neuromuscular control, making predictive musculoskeletal simulation challenging. We present a physiology-informed reinforcement-learning framework that constrains control using muscle…

When facing a task of balancing a dynamic system near an unstable equilibrium, humans often adopt intermittent control strategy: instead of continuously controlling the system, they repeatedly switch the control on and off. Paradigmatic…

Animals possess a remarkable ability to navigate challenging terrains, achieved through the interplay of various pathways between the brain, central pattern generators (CPGs) in the spinal cord, and musculoskeletal system. Traditional…

To traverse complex three-dimensional terrainwith large obstacles, animals and robots must transition across different modes. However, the most mechanistic understanding of terrestrial locomotion concerns how to generate and stabilize…

The gaits of undulating animals arise from a complex interaction of their central nervous system, muscle, connective tissue, bone, and environment. As a simplifying assumption, many previous studies have often assumed that sufficient…

Walking animals, like stick insects, cockroaches or ants, demonstrate a fascinating range of locomotive abilities and complex behaviors. The locomotive behaviors can consist of a variety of walking patterns along with adaptation that allow…

Large groups of active cilia collectively beat in a fluid medium as metachronal waves, essential for some microorganisms motility and for flow generation in mucociliary clearance. Several models can predict the emergence of metachronal…

In active matter systems, self-propelled particles can self-organize to undergo collective motion, leading to persistent dynamical behavior out of equilibrium. In cells, cytoskeletal filaments and motor proteins self-organize into complex…

We built a simple two-leg toy that can walk stably with no control system. It walks downhill powered only by gravity. It seems to be the first McGeer-like passive-dynamic walker that is statically unstable in all standing positions, yet is…

The modeling and simulation of coupled neuromusculoskeletal-exoskeletal systems play a crucial role in human biomechanical analysis, as well as in the design and control of exoskeletons. However, conventional dynamic simulation frameworks…

Movements of molecular motors on cytoskeletal filaments are described by directed walks on a line. Detachment from this line is allowed to occur with a small probability. Motion in the surrounding fluid is described by symmetric random…

Clockwise rotational movement of isolated single cilia in mice embryo was investigated in vivo. The movement generates leftward fluid flow in the node cavity and plays an important role in left-right determination. The leftward…

According to the conventional approach to model neural ensembles the extracellular environment has fixed ionic concentrations. However, in many cases the extracellular concentration of potassium ions can not be regarded as constant. That…

The crawling motion of Dictyostelium discoideum on substrata involves a number of coordinated events including cell contractions and cell protrusions. The mechanical forces exerted on the substratum during these contractions have recently…