Research
Research
Our team is dedicated to advancing our understanding of human motor control and learning through innovative research projects. We integrate research expertise in motor psychophysics, computational modelling, non-invasive brain stimulation and neuropsychological techniques to reveal fundamental principles of how the brain learns new motor skills and represents what it learns.
Our research covers a wide range of topics including:
how different types of error signals drive recalibration of the mapping between motor commands and sensory outcomes to maintain movement accuracy and precision (i.e. sensorimotor adaptation)
the computational principles underlying the use of deliberate (cognitive) strategies and implicit motor adaptation in learning novel motor tasks
neural/cognitive representations involved in acquisition, refinement and deployment of top-down decision making and bottom up adaptive processes in motor learning
transfer/generalization of motor learning to novel contexts (i.e. untrained limb, novel environment)
the role of visual and proprioceptive information in feedback and feedforward control of movements
Approach
Our team uses a variety of techniques to study motor control and learning, including:
Behavioural Testing
Our behavioural experiments involves a KINARM End-Point robot, which is designed to study different forms of motor adaptation including force-field adaptation and visuomotor adaptation. The KINARM allows novel mappings to be imposed between hand motion and the corresponding visual feedback that is provided during reaching movements, which similarly requires participants to adapt in order to maintain accurate performance.
Non-invasive Brain Stimulation
We use non-invasive brain stimulation to gain novel insights into the workings of the brain at both a neurophysiological level and also at higher cognitive levels. We utilise a wide variety of transcranial brain stimulation (TMS) techniques to investigate brain neurophysiology and neuro-plasticity in motor control and learning.
Please visit our "Publications" page to view a list of our recent research articles and conference presentations. If you are interested in participating in one of our research studies, please see our "Join a Study" page for more information.