Principles of spatiotemporal pattern formation and brain connectivity

How does the connectivity of a network affect its dynamics? How does structure affect function and function affect structure? In the brain, millions of neurons are connected in a complex manner, which determines how they can exchange information. In particular the timing of their information exchange is most important for their information processing. In our research we ask fundamental questions on how the connectivity of a neural network determines its spatiotemporal dynamics. The overall goal is to provide accurate descriptions of cortical network activity spread and of the factors influencing its spatial and temporal characteristics. Read more...

Cognitive architectures and motor behavior

In the field of coordination dynamics, human movements are viewed as a self-organized pattern formation process rather than the execution of a motor program. This approach is inspired by ideas borne by the theory of Dynamic Systems and Synergetics. Similarly, cognitive processes can be understood as a low-dimensional dynamics following laws which prescribe the time evolution of the cognitive variables. In our research we aim to identify these phenomenological laws which underlie cognitive architectures and motor behavior. Read more...