Neuroscience of Motor Performance
Olympic athletes dedicate years to honing their skill, so why do they remain vulnerable to pressure? What distinguishes elite athletes at the Olympic level from others? Dr. Liana Brown, associate professor in Psychology and Kinesiology, specializes in motor skill learning and performance. She can offer insights and answer questions through her knowledge of neuroscience and psychology in sport.
Brown, L.E., Wilson, E.T., Obhi, S.S., & Gribble, P.L. (2010). Effect of trial order and error magnitude on motor learning by observing. Journal of Neurophysiology, 104, 1409-1416.
Brown, L.E., Rosenbaum, D.A., & Sainburg, R.L. (2003). Limb position drift: Implications for control of limb position and movement. Journal of Neurophysiology, 90, 3105-3118.
Many everyday activities require that we interact skillfully with the environment. My research is focused on discovering how sensation, perception and movement performance work together as we perform simple, everyday tasks. I focus on four major questions: 1) Can we use our hands to improve vision and/or attention? 2) How do we keep track of where our limbs are in space? 3) How do our moto capabilities influence cognition? 4) Can we learn a new motor skill by watching others perform? The goal as this research program is to understand both what and how information is exchanged between the motor and sensory systems, and the neural bases of this exchange.