Grant: Operating Grant

The aim of the proposed research is to better understand how skilled object manipulation tasks are planned and controlled in the human brain. Planning to manipulate an object (e.g., a cup) is highly complex, and involves, among other things, predicting the weight of the object as well as sequencing together a series of distinct motor acts (e.g., reaching towards, grasping, lifting and transporting the cup) in order to attain some overarching goal (e.g., drinking). We will use behavioural methods and brain imaging techniques (functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) to examine the neural representations that underlie two fundamental components of object manipulation: the prediction of object weight and the sequencing of distinct action phases in order to obtain a goal. The first project will examine how and where in the brain knowledge about object weight, used when lifting, is represented. We will also examine how and where in the brain predictions about weight based on object material are generated. The second project will explore how object manipulation tasks that involve the linking of multiple action phases are coded in the brain. Characterizing and mapping human neural activity associated with the planning of object manipulation will provide critical insights into both normal and impaired cognitive brain function as well as aid the development of brain-machine interfaces, which aim to restore complex motor functions to movement-impaired patient populations (individuals with neurologic disease, injury, or limb loss).