Goals and Objectives
Goals and Objectives
A remarkable feature of human behaviour is the wide variety of actions we can perform to interact with the world around us. Our movements appear relatively effortless, flexible and adaptable despite the diversity of environments and contexts in which they are performed. The broad aim of the CoLA Lab at IIT Gandhinagar is to understand the principles and brain mechanisms that mediate the control of our actions, and to decipher how this control breaks down in case of damage to the brain.
A remarkable feature of human behaviour is the wide variety of actions we can perform to interact with the world around us. Our movements appear relatively effortless, flexible and adaptable despite the diversity of environments and contexts in which they are performed. The broad aim of the CoLA Lab at IIT Gandhinagar is to understand the principles and brain mechanisms that mediate the control of our actions, and to decipher how this control breaks down in case of damage to the brain.
Some specific questions we ask are:
Some specific questions we ask are:
- How do we plan and coordinate our actions?
- What mechanisms mediate correction of errors during movement?
- How do we learn from such errors?
- How do we learn new motor skills?
- What brain regions are critical for these processes?
- How are these processes affected in cases of neurological disorders?
Importance
Importance
Research at the CoLA lab contributes significantly to our knowledge of the mechanisms and neural network mediating flexible and skilled motor behavior. This in turn provides insight into the functional effects as well as residual motor capacity following damage to different components of this architecture due to neurological disorders such as Stroke and Parskinson's disease. The loss of motor function caused by such neurological disorders entails immense cost to individuals and society. Our research informs the development and advancement of rehabilitation strategies that improve motor function after neurological damage and helps alleviate some of these costs. Our work thus contributes not just from a basic science perspective, but also from a translational standpoint.
Research at the CoLA lab contributes significantly to our knowledge of the mechanisms and neural network mediating flexible and skilled motor behavior. This in turn provides insight into the functional effects as well as residual motor capacity following damage to different components of this architecture due to neurological disorders such as Stroke and Parskinson's disease. The loss of motor function caused by such neurological disorders entails immense cost to individuals and society. Our research informs the development and advancement of rehabilitation strategies that improve motor function after neurological damage and helps alleviate some of these costs. Our work thus contributes not just from a basic science perspective, but also from a translational standpoint.
Methods and Techniques
Methods and Techniques
We employ a variety of techniques to study the control of actions in humans. Our primary emphasis is on recording and analyzing motor behaviour in human volunteers. We also employ techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to temporarily and non-invasively perturb specific neural circuits and examine the effects that this produces on motor behaviour. We occasionally work with patients with Stroke and Parkinson's Disease to understand how naturally occurring lesions produce deficits in movement, and are also interested in employing techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) to understand the neural correlates of certain motor behaviours.
We employ a variety of techniques to study the control of actions in humans. Our primary emphasis is on recording and analyzing motor behaviour in human volunteers. We also employ techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to temporarily and non-invasively perturb specific neural circuits and examine the effects that this produces on motor behaviour. We occasionally work with patients with Stroke and Parkinson's Disease to understand how naturally occurring lesions produce deficits in movement, and are also interested in employing techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) to understand the neural correlates of certain motor behaviours.
Funding
Funding
We are grateful to the following institutions for supporting either past work or ongoing work:
We are grateful to the following institutions for supporting either past work or ongoing work:
IIT Gandhinagar
Department of Science and Technology
Govt. of India
Wellcome-Trust DBT India Alliance