This comprehensive edited treatise discusses the neurological, physiological, and cognitive aspects of interlimb coordination. It is unique in promoting a multidisciplinary perspective through introductory chapter contributions from experts in the neurosciences, experimental and developmental psychology, and kinesiology. Beginning with chapters defining the neural basis of interlimb coordination in animals, the book progresses toward an understanding of human locomotor control and coordination and the underlying brain structures and nerves that make such control possible. Section two focuses on the dynamics of interlimb coordination and the physics of movement. The final section presents information on how practice and experience affect coordination, including general skill acquisition, learning to walk, and the process involved in rhythmic tapping.

One of the most striking features of Coordination Dynamics is its interdisciplinary character. The problems we are trying to solve in this field range from behavioral phenomena of interlimb coordination and coordination between stimuli and movements (perception-action tasks) through neural activation patterns that can be observed during these tasks to clinical applications and social behavior. It is not surprising that close collaboration among scientists from different fields as psychology, kinesiology, neurology and even physics are imperative to deal with the enormous difficulties we are facing when we try to understand a system as complex as the human brain. The chapters in this volume are not simply write-ups of the lectures given by the experts at the meeting but are written in a way that they give sufficient introductory information to be comprehensible and useful for all interested scientists and students.

This book brings together scientists from all over the world who have defined and developed the field of Coordination Dynamics. Grounded in the concepts of self-organization and the tools of nonlinear dynamics, appropriately extended to handle informational aspects of living things, Coordination Dynamics aims to understand the coordinated functioning of a variety of different systems at multiple levels of description. The book addresses the themes of Coordination Dynamics and Dynamic Patterns in the context of the following topics: Coordination of Brain and Behavior, Perception-Action Coupling, Control, Posture, Learning, Intention, Attention, and Cognition.

This volume, a posterbook based on the seventh biennial Conference of the International Society for Ecological Psychology, is a collection of compact empirical and/or theoretical articles on the study of perception and action.

Whittle’s Gait Analysis – formerly known as Gait Analysis: an introduction – is now in its fifth edition with a new team of authors led by David Levine and Jim Richards. Working closely with Michael Whittle, the team maintains a clear and accessible approach to basic gait analysis. It will assist both students and clinicians in the diagnosis of and treatment plans for patients suffering from medical conditions that affect the way they walk. Highly readable, the book builds upon the basics of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics Describes both normal and pathological gait Covers the range of methods available to perform gait analysis, from the very simple to the very complex. Emphasizes the clinical applications of gait analysis Chapters on gait assessment of neurological diseases and musculoskeletal conditions and prosthetics and orthotics Methods of gait analysis Design features including key points A team of specialist contributors led by two internationally-renowned expert editors 60 illustrations, taking the total number to over 180 Evolve Resources containing video clips and animated skeletons of normal gait supported by MCQs, an image bank, online glossary and sources of further information. Log on to http://evolve.elsevier.com/Whittle/gait to register and start using these resources today!

Physical rehabilitation for walking recovery after spinal cord injury is undergoing a paradigm shift. Therapy historically has focused on compensation for sensorimotor deficits after SCI using wheelchairs and bracing to achieve mobility. With locomotor training, the aim is to promote recovery via activation of the neuromuscular system below the level of the lesion. What basic scientists have shown us as the potential of the nervous system for plasticity, to learn, even after injury is being translated into a rehabilitation strategy by taking advantage of the intrinsic biology of the central nervous system. While spinal cord injury from basic and clinical perspectives was the gateway for developing locomotor training, its application has been extended to other populations with neurologic dysfunction resulting in loss of walking or walking disability.

This book is the outcome of a Nato Workshop, held in France in July 1989. The workshop was organized to examine current ideas about sensory-motor organizations during human infancy and their development through early childhood. The study of sensory-motor development is experiencing a profound shift in scope, focus, methodology and theoretical foundations. Many of these changes are quite new and not yet well covered in the literature. We thought it would be useful for some of the leading researchers in this field to convene together and to compare notes, and collectively to establish future directions for the field. The reasons for a new conceptualization of sensory-motor development are no doubt numerous, but three are especially significant: 1. One concerns a shift from studying either sensory or motor processing to investigation of the relations between the two. 2. The second is connected to the new emphasis on action, and its implications for goal-directed and intentional behaviour extending over time. 3. Lastly, new theories and methodologies provide access to new tools for studying and conceptualizing the developmental process. 1.-One of the most enduring legacies of the behaviorist perspective has been a focus on the stimulus and the response to the exclusion of the relation between them (Pick, 1989). Historically, this bias translated into a research agenda in which the investigator was concerned with either perceptual or motor competence, but rarely the relation between them.

The first edition of Equine Locomotion has established itself as the book in the equine literature that discusses all aspects of equine locomotion and gait analysis, written by an international team of editors and contributors.The new edition continues this trend and gives the reader a complete picture of the horse in motion, at the same time including many recent findings in this area. The book begins with a history of man's association with the horse and then continues to discuss with comprehensive descriptions of the present state of knowledge beginning with the initiation of gait and ending with the more scientific area of computer modeling. In the new edition, the list of contributors continues to comprise of authors who are acknowledged experts in their subject areas and includes many new illustrations.•international team of editors and contributors, with leading experts from the USA, the Netherlands, Sweden and France (all centres of excellence for the study of equine locomotion)•editors are from two of the worlds leading locomotion centres – Utrecht and Michigan•highly illustrated with nearly 500 detailed line drawings and illustrations•covers all you will ever need to know about equine locomotion, gait analysis and much more•international team of editors and contributors, with leading experts from the USA, the Netherlands, Sweden and France (all centres of excellence for the study of equine locomotion)•editors are from two of the worlds leading locomotion centres – Utrecht and Michigan•highly illustrated with nearly 500 detailed line drawings and illustrations•covers all you will ever need to know about equine locomotion, gait analysis and much more