How does the brain use sensory information to control movement?We use non-invasive brain stimulation and behavioral tasks to study this question in healthy adults. This research has important implications not only for our understanding of the brain, but also for how we rehabilitate patients who experience sensorimotor deficits after stroke.
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Skilled movement and body representation
Learning a new skill, like using a computer mouse, changes both how your body moves and how your brain understands your body. For example, your brain has to link your hand movements to what you see on the screen. Our research studies how the brain's sense of the body—called body representation—changes with learning, and how these changes last over time or apply in new situations. While most research focuses on movement changes, we look at changes in how the brain senses the body, which is less understood. This includes signals from muscles (called proprioception) and vision. The brain combines these different signals in a process called multisensory integration.
Why this matters
Understanding how the brain updates its sense of the body can help improve technologies like prosthetics and virtual reality. It can also improve training in fields like medicine and engineering—for example, teaching someone how to control a robotic arm from a distance. Our work can also support stroke rehabilitation by helping scientists improve therapy for people with movement and sensation problems after brain injury.
Our research tools
We use different tools to explore these questions. Some studies involve simple tasks, like touching targets on a screen or describing what you feel. Others use brain tools like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or brain scans to see which areas are involved. All of this helps us better understand how the brain learns skilled movement.
Learning a new skill, like using a computer mouse, changes both how your body moves and how your brain understands your body. For example, your brain has to link your hand movements to what you see on the screen. Our research studies how the brain's sense of the body—called body representation—changes with learning, and how these changes last over time or apply in new situations. While most research focuses on movement changes, we look at changes in how the brain senses the body, which is less understood. This includes signals from muscles (called proprioception) and vision. The brain combines these different signals in a process called multisensory integration.
Why this matters
Understanding how the brain updates its sense of the body can help improve technologies like prosthetics and virtual reality. It can also improve training in fields like medicine and engineering—for example, teaching someone how to control a robotic arm from a distance. Our work can also support stroke rehabilitation by helping scientists improve therapy for people with movement and sensation problems after brain injury.
Our research tools
We use different tools to explore these questions. Some studies involve simple tasks, like touching targets on a screen or describing what you feel. Others use brain tools like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or brain scans to see which areas are involved. All of this helps us better understand how the brain learns skilled movement.
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