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SUMMARY:Swimming of a simple vertebrate:  Insights from computational and 
 robotic models. - Lisa Fauci (Tulane University)
DTSTART:20170922T131000Z
DTEND:20170922T135000Z
UID:TALK80681@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:INI IT
DESCRIPTION:The swimming of a simple vertebrate\, the lamprey\, can shed l
 ight on the coupling of  neural signals to muscle mechanics and passive bo
 dy dynamics in animal locomotion.  We will present  recent progress in the
  development of a computational model of a lamprey with sensory feedback  
 and examine the emergent swimming behavior of the coupled fluid-neural-mus
 cle-body system.   A long-term goal of this research is to investigate the
  relation of spinal chord injuries to movement in a very simple system. In
  addition\, even though the fish&#39\;s material properties most likely ha
 ve a strong effect  on swimming performance\, it is extremely difficult to
  use animal experiments to identify its role. While one species of fish ma
 y be stiffer than another\, they also typically differ in numerous other w
 ays\, such as the anatomy of the muscle and skeleton and the way they acti
 vate their muscles during swimming. We will discuss how computational and 
 robotic models offer a more controlled  way to probe the effects of body s
 tiffness.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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