"Variability and Motor Control is a comprehensive examination of research and theoretical perspectives on movement variability and motor control. The text reviews traditional perspectives - which view movement variability as noise or error - and moves on to consider dynamical systems approaches to movement control, which view variability as an index of movement fluctuations." "Written by leading experts in motor control, this text provides valuable information on the importance of variability in the theoretical inquiry into motor control, skill acquisition, and motor impairment; the use of estimated variability as a movement parameter in empirical studies of motor control; and current developments of new dynamical systems approaches to variability and motor control." "Variability and Motor Control is a valuable reference for students and scholars of motor control and learning as well as experimental psychologists, ergonomists, and industrial and human-factors specialists."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This in-depth, multidisciplinary analysis of the latest research adds a new theoretical interpretation to the role of variability in movement behaviour. Many scientific disciplines are represented in the text and each chapter examines a range of topics.

In recent years there has been steadily increasing interest in motor behavior and a growing awareness that a person not only has to know what to do in a particular situation, but also how to do it. The question of how actions are performed is of central concern in the area of motor control. This volume provides an advanced-level treatment of some of the main issues. Experiments concerned with basic processes of motor control typ ically examine very simple movements. At first glance these tasks appear to be far removed from real-world tasks, but it should be kept in mind that they are not studied for their own sake. One of the main reasons for using them is the well-recognized, but sometimes questioned, scientific principle that basic laws may be discovered more easily in simple situations than iIi complex situations. Another reason is that the simple tasks studied constitute building blocks of more complex tasks. For example, some complex skills can be consid ered as consisting of sequences of aimed movements, although, as no one would doubt, knowing everything about these individual movements does not mean knowing everything about, for example, typing. The first two chapters of the present volume focus on behavioral and physiological studies of programming and preparation of move ments. In the first chapter D. Rosenbaum introduces the concept of a motor program that is set up in advance of the overt movement.

This volume is the most recent installment of the Progress in Motor Control series. It contains contributions based on presentations by invited speakers at the Progress in Motor Control IX meeting held in at McGill University, Montreal, in July, 2013. Progress in Motor Control is the official scientific meeting of the International Society of Motor Control (ISMC). The Progress in Motor Control IXI meeting, and consequently this volume, provide a broad perspective on the latest research on motor control in humans and other species.

For the first time, international scientific and clinical leaders have collaborated to present this exclusive book which integrates state-of-the art engineering concepts of spine control into clinically relevant approaches for the rehabilitation of low back pain. Spinal Control identifies the scope of the problem around motor control of the spine and pelvis while defining key terminology and methods as well as placing experimental findings into context. Spinal Control also includes contributions that put forward different sides of critical arguments (e.g. whether or not to focus on training the deep muscles of the trunk) and then bring these arguments together to help both scientists and clinicians better understand the convergences and divergences within this field. On the one hand, this book seeks to resolve many of the issues that are debated in existing literature, while on the other, its contributing opinion leaders present current best practice on how to study the questions facing the field of spine control, and then go on to outline the key directions for future research. Spinal Control – the only expert resource which provides a trusted, consensus approach to low back pain rehabilitation for both clinicians and scientists alike! Covers the most important issues in spine control research Illustrates the clinical relevance of research and how this is or can be applied in clinical practice Edited and written by world leading experts, contributing first class content on different aspects of spine control Chapters that bring together the expertise of these world leaders on topics such as neuromotor mechanisms of spine control, proprioception, subgrouping in back pain and modelling spine stability An extensive and illustrated clinical consensus chapter that brings together the philosophies of clinical opinion leaders for the first time

Advances in Motor Learning and Control surveys the latest, most important advances in the field, surpassing the confines of debate between proponents of the information processing and dynamical systems. Zelaznik, editor of the Journal of Motor Behavior from 1989 to 1996, brings together a variety of perspectives. Some of the more difficult topics-such as behavioral analysis of trajectory formation and the dynamic pattern perspective of rhythmic movement-are presented in tutorial fashion. Other chapters provide a foundation for understanding increasingly specialized areas of study.