Many of our actions and behaviors require conscious deliberation, such as writing, skiing, or attending a conference. We perform many other actions as if on autopilot, but they still require a tremendous integration of brain functions to innervate just the right combination of muscles in just the right way. Neurological deficits that affect motor control or behavior have profoundly disturbing consequences for individuals, and understanding how the brain normally coordinates actions could help provide better rehabilitation strategies for victims of paralysis, stroke, Parkinson's, and movement disorders.

Emilio Bizzi studies how the motor system, which extends from parts of the cerebral cortex all the way down to the spinal cord, controls the production of voluntary movements. He discovered that clusters of spinal neurons work in synchrony to control a set of muscles independent of the higher brain's oversight. He has also investigated the way in which new cortical circuits develop during the learning of new motor tasks. He is using this knowledge to develop computer-controlled neuroprosthetics for amputees and training programs for people with brain damage so they can, for example, guide a virtual arm on a computer screen and receive the feedback they need to regain the use of the arm. His work is already leading to new behavioral strategies for treating movement disorders.

Michale Fee researches a different kind of motor output, that concerning speech and language, using songbirds as a model. Songbirds must learn their vocalizations from an adult in a process that resembles a baby's babbling in imitation of a parent's words. Fee studies two circuits in the bird's brain, a motor circuit for producing the sounds and a learning circuit that sends output to the motor one. His work has provided unique insight into the core neural systems shared by all animals, including humans, that communicate with one another.

H. Robert Horvitz is interested in the systems neuroscience of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, focusing on the genetic, molecular, cellular, and systems bases of its development and behavior. Drawing upon the completely defined neural circuitry and cell lineage of C. elegans, Horvitz is analyzing the roles of neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, octopamine and tyramine) and neuropeptides in modulating the behavioral responses of C. elegans to the environment and to experience. He also is analyzing programmed cell death in C. elegans, a phenomenon basic to neural development in animals as diverse as worms, insects, mice, and humans. This work led to his receipt of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Horvitz is also engaged in collaborative genetic studies of the human neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).