Progress in Motor Control: A Multidisciplinary Perspective (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 629) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387770631 ISBN 13: 9780387770635

Publisher: Springer, 2008

Synopsis

It has become widely acknowledged, and almost trivial to state, that the study of the control and coordination of biological movement – motor control – is inherently multidisciplinary. From the investigation of overt functional behavior to the int- cacies of neuronal activations, the issues are numerous and invite many different levels of analysis, methods, and perspectives. Clearly, the biological movement system is simultaneously a dynamical, neurophysiological, electrophysiological, and intentional system, in short, a complex system in the technical sense of the word. While multidisciplinarity in motor control research is a necessity, it also presents a stumbling block to developing a coherent body of knowledge that represents the science of the control and coordination of movement. Research thrusts are developing from different academic backgrounds that are not easily understood by peers with entirely different disciplinary training. Not only for the student of motor control, but also for the advanced researcher, it can be daunting to make connections, for example, between cognitive issues like pl- ning or attention and functional properties of the peripheral nervous system, between motor cortical activation and the biomechanics of the multi-joint limb system. Yet, all of these approaches aim to shed light on the same phenomenon – the astonishing ability of biological systems to move, perceive, grow, adapt, use tools, and do infinitely more things. For the science of motor control to progress more integration of disciplines is therefore necessary.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The area of motor control is a relatively young but thriving field of research. Over the last few decades it has grown into a broad multidiciplinary area of research spanning the disciplines of neurophysiology, kinesiology, neuroscience, robotics, psychology, nonlinear dynamics, biomechanics and biology, with no specific rank order. As of yet, there is no textbook that represents the area in its breadth. This book aims to fill that gap by bringing researchers together from this wide range of disciplines to discuss the control and coordination of processes involved in perceptually guided actions.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0387770631
• ISBN 13: 9780387770635
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 752
• Editor: Sternad Dagmar