Abstracts
for keynote/featured lecturers
Monica Daley
Locomotion as navigation of acceptable risk landscapes: Individuality in risk-tolerance in non-steady locomotion of guinea fowl.
We are interested in how animals adapt their locomotor strategies over short and long timescales to balance multiple task-level performance demands, such as speed, economy, stability and injury avoidance. Our recent study of turning maneuvers suggests that individual variation in non-steady locomotor behavior is strongly correlated with bold-shy personality expression, an indicator of risk-taking propensity. Shy individuals run slowly but fall rarely, whereas bold-individuals run faster but fall more frequently. We are currently developing a theoretical framework that includes probabilistic risk models and individual variation in risk perception and acceptable risk tolerance to predict path planning and maneuvering strategies in non-steady locomotor tasks.
Gelsy Torres-Oviedo
Studies in sensorimotor adaptation to advance motor rehabilitation
Effective human locomotion requires adaptation of one’s movements to compensate for sustained changes in the body or in the walking environment. In this seminar, we will discuss methods for characterizing the human ability to adapt motor outputs and sensory inputs. We will present subject-specific behavior and group responses to highlight the value of individual characterization to develop effective gait rehabilitation strategies
Jose Contreras-Vidal
Brain-machine interfaces for restoration of walking: Challenges and Opportunities
