Empirical data on neural control of motor action and perception have not yet been put into the context of a coherent theory. Dr. Feldman's goal for the proposed book is to illustrate that the field is now at a stage where the data can be used to formulate some core principles that underlie action and perception and to present the foundation of a scientific theory of motor control. Dr. Feldman is a well-known expert and has been active in the field for a long time. In the proposed book he will outline an approach to the analysis of action and perception that he and his colleagues have been using for the past 50 years or so. His theoretical approach will not only help to explain past empirical research, but should also help to inform and provide a structure for future empirical studies.

Physics of Biological Action and Perception helps researchers interested in exploring biological motor control from a physics or alternative viewpoint perspective. The book introduces the idea of parametric control as a distinguishing feature of living systems. Sections cover how the CNS creates stable percepts based on fuzzy and continuously changing signals from numerous receptors and the variable processes related to ongoing actions. The author also develops the idea of control with referent coordinates to stability of salient variables in fields typically united under the label of "cognition." Examples of this include communication (how the gist of a message is preserved despite variability of phrases), thought processes (how one can solve a mental problem via different logical routes), and playing chess (how one selects an optimal move given a position on the board). The book is written for researchers, instructors, clinicians and other professionals in all the fields related to biological movement and perception. - Presents a unifying theory of motor control based on physics - Encompasses action, perception and cognition - Discusses referent coordinates, kinesthetic perception and stability of actions - Identifies the importance of the CNS over computational brain function

The chapters in the book address the problem of reference as it relates to perception and to debates about realism.

Approx.242 pages - Translates the principles of motor control to improve sensorimotor outcomes in patients - Reviews coordination topics including locomotor coordination, visual perception and head stability - Explores movement analysis knowledge in rehabilitative tools

This single volume brings together both theoretical developments in the field of motor control and their translation into such fields as movement disorders, motor rehabilitation, robotics, prosthetics, brain-machine interface, and skill learning. Motor control has established itself as an area of scientific research characterized by a multi-disciplinary approach. Its goal is to promote cooperation and mutual understanding among researchers addressing different aspects of the complex phenomenon of motor coordination. Topics covered include recent theoretical advances from various fields, the neurophysiology of complex natural movements, the equilibrium-point hypothesis, motor learning of skilled behaviors, the effects of age, brain injury, or systemic disorders such as Parkinson's Disease, and brain-computer interfaces. The chapter ‘Encoding Temporal Features of Skilled Movements—What, Whether and How?’ is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bernstein was one of the great neuroscientists of the twentieth century and highly respected by Western scientists even though most have never read his most important book entitled On the Construction of Movements. Bernstein's Construction of Movements: The Original Text and Commentaries is the first English translation. It supplements the translated text with a series of commentaries by scientists who knew Bernstein personally, as well as leaders in related fields including physics, motor control, and biomechanics. While written in 1947, Bernstein’s book is anything but obsolete, making this English translation and accompanying commentaries an invaluable text. The translated original text presents in detail Bernstein’s views on the evolutionary history of biological movement and his multi-level hierarchical scheme of the construction of movements in higher animals, including humans. The following commentaries address Bernstein’s personality, the history of the book, and current views on different aspects of neuroscience covered in Bernstein’s text. Ultimately, they present "a book within the book" to showcase how Bernstein’s heritage has developed over the past years. This classic, available for the first time to an English-speaking audience, will prove beneficial to students, instructors, and experts of neuroscience, physics, neurophysiology, motor control, motor rehabilitation, biomechanics, dynamical systems, and related fields.

The Cambridge Handbook of Applied Perception Research covers core areas of research in perception with an emphasis on its application to real-world environments. Topics include multisensory processing of information, time perception, sustained attention, and signal detection, as well as pedagogical issues surrounding the training of applied perception researchers. In addition to familiar topics, such as perceptual learning, the Handbook focuses on emerging areas of importance, such as human-robot coordination, haptic interfaces, and issues facing societies in the twenty-first century (such as terrorism and threat detection, medical errors, and the broader implications of automation). Organized into sections representing major areas of theoretical and practical importance for the application of perception psychology to human performance and the design and operation of human-technology interdependence, it also addresses the challenges to basic research, including the problem of quantifying information, defining cognitive resources, and theoretical advances in the nature of attention and perceptual processes.

This volume offers a comprehensive view of posters presented at the VIIth International Conference on Event Perception and Action. Arranged in order of appearance of their corresponding symposia on the conference program, this collection of 80 miniature articles on event perception and action represents the work of 136 researchers from 13 countries.

Synergy discusses a general problem in biology: The lack of an adequate language for formulating biologically specific problems. Written for an inquisitive reader who is not necessarily a professional in the area of movement studies, this book describes the recent progress in the control and coordination of human movement. The book begins with a brief history of movement studies and reviews the current central controversies in the area of control of movements with an emphasis on the equilibrium-point hypothesis. An operational definition of synergy is introduced and a method of analysis of synergies is described based on the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis. Further this method is used to characterize synergies in a variety of tasks including such common motor tasks as standing, pointing, reaching, standing-up, and manipulation of hand-held objects. Applications of this method to movements by persons with neurological disorders, persons with atypical development and healthy elderly persons are illustrated, as well as changes in motor synergies with practice. Possible neurophysiological mechanisms of synergies are also discussed with the focus on such conspicuous structures as the spinal cord, the cerebellum, the basal ganglia, and the cortex of the large hemispheres. A variety of models are discussed based on different computational and neurophysiological principles. Possible applications of the introduced definition of synergies to other areas such as perception and language are discussed.