BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:On the relevance of cortico-spinal synchrony for motor control - A
 ndreas Daffertshofer\, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
DTSTART:20090211T160000Z
DTEND:20090211T170000Z
UID:TALK16949@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Aldo Faisal
DESCRIPTION:For motor control the functional role of neural synchronizatio
 n within the cortex and between cortex and spinal cord is still under deba
 te as empirical findings often disagree and depend on the task under study
 . Spectral power strongly fluctuates with performance because it represent
 s (event-related) local (de-)synchronization. Does this imply that cortico
 -spinal\, i.e. long-range synchrony is merely a by-product of local\, osci
 llator activity? Or\, should synchrony be seen as an entity on its own\, p
 roviding additional means for information transfer over longer distances? 
 \n\nTheoretical arguments for distinct roles of local and long-range synch
 rony find recent empirical support in recordings of motor cortex and muscl
 e activity during motor learning. Cortico-spinal synchronization in the be
 ta band will be shown to be particularly important in establishing bimanua
 l coordination patterns since its gradual changes correlate with the learn
 ing dynamics. In consequence\, cortico-spinal beta synchrony is likely to 
 serve higher-level motor control functions as primary means of information
  coding and transfer along the neural axis.
LOCATION: Cambridge University Engineering Department\, Rm #438 (http://ww
 w.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/~lmate/cbl/cbldirections.html)
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR