Tim Kiemel, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor

Cognitive Motor Neuroscience

My research focuses on the mathematical modeling and analysis of motor control.  The motor control behaviors I study include the postural control of standing in humans and swimming in lampreys.  My emphasis is on system-level models that illuminate key aspects of motor behavior and the use of empirical data to develop and parameterize such models.

For postural control in humans, the models are based on concepts from control theory such as optimal state estimation and optimal control.  I apply techniques such as closed-loop system identification to kinematic and electromyographic data to develop and test models.  My goal is to understand the nature of plant (the body and its musculotendon actuators) and how neural feedback is suited to stabilize the plant.

For swimming in the lampreys, the models are chains of coupled oscillators that describe the central pattern generator (CPG), the neural circuitry that produces the basic swimming pattern.  I use recordings of neural outputs from the CPG to study the nature of the coupling between the oscillators in the chain and how the CPG responds to sensory feedback.