Neuromechanics: An Interdisciplinary Approach for Understanding Motor Control

描述（由申请人提供）：神经力学是一个本质上的跨学科领域，结合了神经生物学，有机体生物学，工程学和计算机科学的方法来理解运动的神经控制。 本次研讨会的目标是汇集来自这些不同领域的科学家，探索生物力学和运动神经控制之间的关系，定义神经力学的一般原则，并确定未来工作的关键领域。第二个目标是让年轻的生物科学家接触定量建模和跨学科研究的机遇和挑战，以及将神经科学和比较生物学与工程和计算机科学联系起来的必要性。 从历史上看，运动的神经控制研究主要在神经科学领域内发展。 然而，在过去的25年里，外周结构的生物力学在神经控制中起着重要作用的观点已经越来越得到认可。 从设计的角度来看，控制身体的算法显然必须考虑到身体如何工作的细节。 然而，我们对生物力学如何影响运动神经控制的确切理解仍然是初步的。一个主要的挑战是动物复杂的多维组织以及神经元和神经运动回路的非线性特性。 研讨会的一个主题将是了解身体运动的动力学和力学与物理环境的关系如何与神经运动控制相结合，并可能有助于简化神经运动控制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neuromechanics is an inherently interdisciplinary field that combines approaches from neurobiology, organismal biology, engineering and computer science to understand the neural control of movement. The goal of this symposium is to bring together scientists from these diverse fields to explore the relationship between biomechanics and neural control of movement, to define general principles of neuromechanics, and to identify critical areas for future work. A second goal is to expose younger biological scientists to the opportunities and challenges of quantitative modeling and interdisciplinary research, as well as the need for bridging neuroscience and comparative biology with engineering and computer science. Historically, studies of the neural control of movement have developed mainly within the field of neuroscience. Over the past 25 years, however, the idea that the biomechanics of peripheral structures plays an important role in neural control has become increasingly well established. From a design perspective, it seems clear that algorithms for controlling a body must take into account the details of how that body works. However, our understanding of precisely how biomechanics influences neural control of movement is still rudimentary. A major challenge is the complex, multidimensional organization of animals and the non-linear properties of neurons and neuromotor circuits. A main theme of the symposium will be to understand how the dynamics and mechanics of body movement in relation to the physical environment are integrated with, and may help simplify, neural motor control.