Email: dagmar@neu.edu

Phone: 617.373.5093
Fax: 617.373.3724

Location: 423 Richards Hall

Mail: NU/Biology
         134 Mugar Life Sciences
         360 Huntington Avenue
         Boston, MA 02115 USA

Sternad Lab

Research Description

The central interest of research in the Action Lab is the control and coordination of goal-directed human behavior. What organizational principles are at work in movement coordination? What perceptual information is used to coordinate the complex neuromuscular structure? The theoretical framework that pervades our studies interprets the actor in the environment as a dynamical system, which is high-dimensional, nonlinear, and capable of producing coordinated and adaptive behavior. More specifically, our research agenda focuses on single- and multi- joint human movements in perceptually specified tasks. We pursue a three-pronged research strategy consisting of: (1) an empirical component with behavioral experiments on human subjects, (2) theoretical work which develops mathematical models for movement generation on the basis of coupled dynamical systems, and (3) brain imaging studies that investigate the cerebral activity accompanying movement. More recently, we have extended these experimental paradigms to neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and split-brain patients, and the elderly.

Raftery, A. Cusumano, J., & Sternad, D. (2008). Chaotic frequency scaling in a coupled oscillator model for free rhythmic actions. Neural Computation, 20, 205-226. [PDF]

Wei, K., Dijkstra, T. M. H., & Sternad, D. (2007). Passive stability and active control in a rhythmic task. Journal of Neurophysiology, 98, 5, 2633-2646. [PDF]

Hogan, N., & Sternad, D. (2007). On rhythmic and discrete movement: Reflections, definitions and implications for motor control. Experimental Brain Research, 181, 13-30. [PDF]

Schaal S., Sternad D., Osu R. & Kawato M. (2004). Rhythmic arm movements are not discrete. Nature Neuroscience 7,10, 1136-1143. [PDF]

Sternad D. & Dijkstra T. M. H. (2004). Dynamical stability in the acquisition and performance of rhythmic ball manipulation: Theoretical insights with a clinical slant. Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology, 21, 3, 215-227. [PDF]

Dijkstra T. M. H., Katsumata H., de Rugy A. & Sternad D. (2004). The dialogue between data and model: Passive stability and relaxation behavior in a ball bouncing task. Nonlinear Studies, 11, 3, 319-345. [PDF]

Müller H. & Sternad D. (2004). Decomposition of variability in the execution of goal-oriented tasks - Three components of skill improvement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 30, 1, 212-233. [PDF]

[Back to Top]