Computational and Biological Principles of Sensorimotor Learning

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Daniel Alexander Braun
• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2011 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 192398156

One of the most striking features that sets human motor control apart from its robotic counterparts is the remarkable adaptability that allows us to cope with a vast range of complex and variable environments. The goal of this project is to investigate the computational and biological principles underlying this unrivalled adaptability both experimentally and theoretically. In behavioural experiments, virtual reality technology allows us to expose human subjects to diverse, novel and possibly complex environments. Our aim is to study how the human motor system exploits the structure and the causal dependencies in such environments to enhance adaptation and to integrate information for action. These experimental studies will be backed up by theoretical investigations of normative principles for adaptive control to explain the observed behaviours under special consideration of the bounded resources of the actors.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups
• Major Instrumentation: 2 Virtual Reality Systeme
• Instrumentation Group: 7460 Interaktive graphische Bildschirmsysteme