NSERC CREATE Training program in Computational Approaches to Sensorimotor Tranformations for the Control of Action

西安大略大学（University of Western Ontario）、约克大学（York University）和女王大学（Queen’s University）的神经生理学、心理学和计算机科学研究人员正在联手培养下一代脑科学家。在西方大学大脑和精神中心主任梅尔·古德尔博士的带领下，该团队希望弥合大脑研究、机器人和医学之间的差距。重点将放在如何利用我们的感官信息来控制熟练的动作。尽管人工智能的研究已经取得了巨大的进步，现在的计算机可以击败世界上最好的国际象棋选手，但即使是最先进的机器人，在拿起和移动棋盘上的棋子时，也缺乏六岁孩子的灵巧性。通过研究人类大脑是如何选择和控制这些动作的，研究小组希望揭示出可以用来设计更好的机器人的原理——同时，深入了解中风或其他脑损伤或疾病患者的问题所在。来自工程、数学、计算机科学、生理学和心理学等广泛背景的学生和年轻研究人员将被招募到这个新的跨学科培训项目中。受训人员将与这三所大学的研究人员密切合作，学习构建大脑如何选择和控制运动的数学模型，并设计和实施实验，使用脑成像和其他最先进的技术来测试这些模型。这些数学模型（以及它们所描述的生物学原理）将引领各种新型工程应用的发展，从病人的假肢装置到交互式视频显示，再到手术室和自动化装配线上的机器人。希望这一新的培训方案将促进大脑基础研究成功地转移到临床和其他环境中，从而为加拿大人的健康和福祉作出切实的贡献。

Researchers in neurophysiology, psychology, and computer science at the University of Western Ontario, York University, and Queen's University are teaming up to train the next generation of brain scientists. Led by Dr. Mel Goodale, Director of the Centre for Brain and Mind at Western, the team hopes to bridge the gaps between brain research, robotics, and medicine. The emphasis will be on how information from our senses is used to control skilled movements. Although work on artificial intelligence has made great strides and there are now computers that can beat the best chess players in the world, even the most advanced robots lack the dexterity of even a six-year old child when it comes to picking up and moving a chess piece on the board. By studying how the human brain selects and controls such movements, the team hopes to uncover principles that can be used to design better robots - and at the same time, gain insights into what goes wrong in individuals who have suffered a stroke or some other kind of brain damage or disease. Students and young researchers from a wide range of backgrounds, including engineering, mathematics, computer science, physiology, and psychology, will be recruited into this new interdisciplinary training program. Working closely with researchers in all three universities, the trainees will learn to construct mathematical models of how the brain selects and controls motor action, and to design and carry out experiments to test these models using brain imaging and other state-of-the-art techniques. The mathematical models (and the biological principles they describe) will lead to the development of novel engineering applications in everything from prosthetic devices for patients to interactive video displays and robots working in the operating room and automated assembly lines. It is hoped that this new training program will promote the successful transfer of basic research on the brain into the clinic and other settings where it can make a tangible contribution to the health and well-being of Canadians.