Spontaneous muscle twitches during sleep guide spinal self-organization

During development, information about the three-dimensional shape and mechanical properties of the body is laid down in the synaptic connectivity of sensorimotor systems through unknown adaptive mechanisms. In spinal reflex systems, this enables the fast transformation of complex sensory information into adequate correction of movements. Here we use a computer simulation to show that an unsupervised correlation-based learning mechanism, using spontaneous muscle twitches, can account for the functional adaptation of the withdrawal reflex system. We also show that tactile feedback resulting from spontaneous muscle twitches during sleep does indeed modify sensorimotor transformation in young rats in a predictable manner. The results indicate that these twitches, corresponding to human fetal movements, are important in spinal self-organization.