Movement science, neuromechanics and motor control
Research in this area examines the neural mechanisms through which the brain controls and coordinates movements of the limbs, the eyes, the head and the trunk to allow optimal interactions with the environment. Topics of particular interest include understanding how we plan and select actions, how we learn motor skills, how we manipulate objects, how imagining actions, and observing the actions of others, affects our motor system, how we succeed in synchronizing our movements to musical rhythm, how we anticipate future events, as well as how we control our posture and maintain balance. Other areas of expertise involve the physiology and biomechanics of locomotion, as well as the study of human-robot interactions to design bio-inspired prostheses towards assistance and rehabilitation of movements. Research is pursued following an integrated perspective of the brain where sensory and cognitive influences interact continuously with the motor system to regulate motor behavior, motor learning and motor-related decision-making processes. Research questions are addressed using a multidisciplinary combination of behavioural experiments, data modelling, non-invasive brain stimulation such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in healthy adults and children, as well as in patients with neural disorders affecting the sensorimotor system such as Cerebral palsy, Stroke or Parkinson’s disease.