Title: Heterogeneous inputs to central pattern generators can shape insect gaits,
Abstract: In our previous work, we studied an interconnected bursting neuron model for
insect locomotion, and its corresponding phase oscillator model, which at high
speed can generate stable tripod gaits with three legs off the ground
simultaneously in swing, and at low speed can generate stable tetrapod gaits
with two legs off the ground simultaneously in swing. However, at low speed
several other stable locomotion patterns, that are not typically observed as
insect gaits, may coexist. In the present paper, by adding heterogeneous
external input to each oscillator, we modify the bursting neuron model so that
its corresponding phase oscillator model produces only one stable gait at each
speed, specifically: a unique stable tetrapod gait at low speed, a unique
stable tripod gait at high speed, and a unique branch of stable transition
gaits connecting them. This suggests that control signals originating in the
brain and central nervous system can modify gait patterns.