BALANCE IN THE CAT - ROLE OF THE TAIL AND EFFECTS OF SACROCAUDAL TRANSECTION

To determine whether the tail of the domestic cat plays a role in bala nce during locomotion, four cats were trained to traverse a narrow bea m. To challenge balancing ability, a sudden lateral displacement was i mparted to the beam as the subject was crossing. Freeze-frame videotap e analysis revealed that cats responded to beam movement by rapidly mo ving the tail in the opposite direction. Adjustment of the tail contri buted to realignment of the hips over the beam and enabled the animal to remain aboard the beam. Following complete sacrocaudal spinal trans ection, that eliminated supraspinal control to only the tail, cats fel l significantly more often in response to movements of the beam. The i mportance of the cat's tail for balance, and the utility of this syste m for modeling functional consequences of spinal cord injury and thera peutic interventions, are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.