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What part of the brain controls walking?

The rhythm of stepping is made in the spinal cord: networks of neurons there, the central pattern generators, alternate the legs even without commands from the brain. [1][2][3][4]

The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The list of parts still says what each one does for walking.

Lit: whole parts; region borders not drawn.

Slice

All 8 parts are lit together. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap a part on the brain or a name in the list to focus it; .

The mesencephalic locomotor region in the midbrain switches them on and sets the pace through relay neurons in the brainstem. On top of that, the motor cortex on the precentral gyrus places each foot, the supplementary motor area plans the posture shifts, the basal ganglia make walking automatic and the cerebellum corrects each step against feedback. [1][2][3][4]

The supplementary motor area is a region on a lit gyrus, not a separate shape. The 3D model draws only whole gyri, so the gyrus that holds each area is lit; the area’s exact border is not drawn.

The mesencephalic locomotor region is a region on the midbrain, not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole midbrain is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

The stepping central pattern generator network is a region on the spinal cord (central canal), not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole spinal cord (central canal) is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

Walking: 8 parts lit

Precentral gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, cerebellum, midbrain and spinal cord (central canal). Tap one to see where it is and what it does.

The parts and their roles

Its primary motor cortex gives voluntary control of the opposite leg; the leg area lies at the top, near the midline. It is needed for precise foot placement, as when stepping over an obstacle, guided by what the eyes see through the parietal and frontal cortex. [1][5][4] Where is the motor cortex (precentral gyrus)?
Its rear, inner part holds the supplementary motor area, which with the premotor cortex turns body information into motor programs, including the posture shift made just before a step; in monkeys walking on two legs, silencing its trunk and leg regions upset posture without weakening the legs. [4][6] Where is the superior frontal gyrus?
With the putamen it forms the striatum, the input stage of the basal ganglia that receives the cortex’s motor signals; the basal ganglia shape both automatic and deliberate walking through loops back to the cortex and down to the brainstem. [7][4] Where is the caudate nucleus?
Dopamine sent to the caudate and putamen from the compact part of the substantia nigra may be involved in learning walking patterns. [4] Where is the putamen?
Part of the basal ganglia that make the constant small adjustments that let you walk without thinking about each step; its inner segment, with the substantia nigra’s reticular part, sends inhibitory (GABA) output to the midbrain’s locomotor region, and it works in a loop with the subthalamic nucleus. [8][4][7] Where is the globus pallidus?
A cerebellar locomotor region in its middle part, found in animals, can drive the brainstem’s locomotor pathway directly; the cerebellum also compares the cortex’s commands with live feedback from the spinal cord and corrects each step. [4][1] Where is the cerebellum?
Holds the mesencephalic locomotor region: electrically stimulating it in cats produced walking and running on a treadmill. The red nucleus here still controls the arm swing of ordinary human walking. [3][9] Where is the midbrain?
Holds the central pattern generators for walking, in its lower thoracic and lumbar segments: they produce the basic stepping pattern without commands from the cortex and adjust it to feedback from the legs. [2] Where is the spinal cord?

Named areas on the lit gyri

Supplementary motor area, on the : The medial part of Brodmann area 6, on the midline face of the superior frontal gyrus in front of the leg region of the primary motor cortex; proposed roles include keeping the body stable in stance or walking. [6]
The mesencephalic locomotor region, on the : A region defined by what it does, not by a border: in the midbrain below the inferior colliculus, thought to be built from the pedunculopontine and cuneiform nuclei. It was found by Shik and colleagues in 1966 in cats and reported in humans 28 years later; its fibres act on the spinal cord through reticulospinal neurons of the pons and medulla, and it receives input from the substantia nigra. [3][4]
The stepping central pattern generator network, on the : Networks of spinal neurons that alternate flexor and extensor muscles of the legs. Graham Brown showed in 1911 that the spinal cord alone can produce the basic stepping pattern; in humans, stimulating large sensory fibres of the lumbar cord drives rhythmic leg movements, evidence that the same kind of network exists in people. [2]

How they work together

A step has two phases per leg: stance, with the foot on the ground, and swing, with it lifted and carried forwards. In an adult the cycle is about 60% stance and 40% swing, with a moment when both feet are on the ground; the average walking speed at crosswalks is about 5.0 km/h (1.4 m/s). [1][10]
The brain runs walking in two modes: automatic steady stepping, carried by pathways from the brainstem to the spinal cord, and deliberate walking on unfamiliar ground, which needs the cortex to plan each move; the basal ganglia and cerebellum feed into both. [4][1]
Three locomotor regions have been found in animals: the mesencephalic one in the midbrain, a subthalamic one in the lateral hypothalamic area and a cerebellar one in the middle of the cerebellum; a human imaging study found the same layout kept in people walking on two legs. [4]
Feedback reshapes the rhythm all the time: in cats, a touch to the paw during swing makes the leg lift higher to clear an obstacle, while the same touch during stance does the opposite and strengthens the push. [4][2]
Honest limit: these are networks seen in imaging and animal work, not single centres. The locomotor regions and pattern generators were mapped mostly in cats and monkeys, and none is a separate shape in this atlas, so the whole midbrain and spinal cord are lit; the cortical and basal ganglia parts take part in all movement, not only walking. [4][3][2][11]

Walking is one use of the whole motor system: the motor cortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum on this page also run every other voluntary movement. [1] What part of the brain controls movement?

Walking is balance in motion: signals from the inner ear’s balance organs reach the vermis and flocculus of the cerebellum and the vestibular nuclei, and the vestibulospinal tract sets the posture muscles’ tone during each step. [4] What part of the brain controls balance?

The cerebellum’s fastigial nuclei get a copy of the spinal cord’s output and position sense from the legs through the spinocerebellar tracts, which is how it checks each step. [4] What part of the brain senses where your body is (proprioception)?

Sources

Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. A part lit here takes part in walking; it does not do it alone, and it does other jobs too. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); on it the brainstem includes the midbrain, pons and medulla, so lighting the brainstem lights all three.