RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 A neuromechanical model and kinematic analyses for Drosophila larval crawling based on physical measurements JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2020.07.17.208611 DO 10.1101/2020.07.17.208611 A1 Sun, Xiyang A1 Liu, Yingtao A1 Liu, Chang A1 Mayumi, Koichi A1 Ito, Kohzo A1 Nose, Akinao A1 Kohsaka, Hiroshi YR 2020 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/17/2020.07.17.208611.abstract AB Animal locomotion requires dynamic interactions between neural circuits, muscles, and surrounding environments. In contrast to intensive studies on neural circuits, the neuromechanical basis for animal behaviour remains unclear due to the lack of information on the physical properties of animals. Here, taking Drosophila larvae as a model system, we proposed an integrated neuromechanical model based on physical measurements. The physical parameters were obtained by a stress-relaxation assay, and the neural circuit motif was extracted from a chain of excitatory and inhibitory interneurons, which was identified previously by connectomics. Based on the model, we systematically performed perturbation analyses on the parameters in the model to study their kinematic effects on locomotion performance. We found that modification of most of the parameters in the simulation could increase the speed of locomotion. Our physical measurement and modelling would provide a new framework for neural circuit studies and soft robot engineering.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.