Event
ISR Colloquia Series: Avis Cohen and Eric Tytell, "Going from Neurons to Vortices"
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
4:00 p.m.
1146 A.V. Williams Building
Regina King
301 405 6615
rking12@umd.edu
ISR Colloquia Series
Study of a Neuromechanical System: Going from Neurons to Vortices
Professor Avis Cohen
Institute for Systems Research and Department of Biology, Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science
Eric Tytell
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Department of Biology, Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science
Abstract
Locomotion is the product of neural output acting on muscles driving a mechanically complex body in an unpredictable environment. Interactions within and among these elements permit adaptive movement. The lamprey is a simple, well-studied and relatively tractable vertebrate model with which to probe this neuromechanical system. Our group has been engaged in an integrated study of lamprey swimming through exploitation of neural and mechanical studies employing a set of models, both computational and mechanical that encapsulate our knowledge of the neuromechanical system. We are now producing an integrated computational fluid dynamics model that ultimately will accurately simulate the interactions among the central pattern generator (CPG), muscle, body, environment, and relevant feedback paths going from the neurons to the vortices.
