Postural requirements for limb action as rate-limiting variables in kitten motor development

The authors seeks to establish a case for two points she feels have received little or no attention in basic neuroscience literature pertaining to the development of sensorimotor systems. (1) Developing animals possess the ability to generate coordinated motor actions prior to the ages they are typically observed if posture (and other task-specific) requirements are adequately addressed. (2) Neural maturation of descending neural pathways is necessary but not sufficient to account for processes that determine how and when motor skills emerge during early development.<>