How well can you walk and talk at the same time? To behave adaptively, living beings must coordinate body and mind. However important questions remain as to how this may occur. First, is the direction of control exclusively mind or brain to body? For instance does the coordination of motor components in walking change the coordination of cognitive components in talking? Motor acts are commonly treated as consequent on or independent of cognitive activity (e.g., thinking proceeds apace, whether one sits or walks). But preliminary data of this research project corroborate that coordination of motor behavior has an impact on cognitive dynamics. Second, how do control and coordination of cognitive dynamics change across the lifespan? The dynamics of motor coordination has a linear progression, in which dynamic patterns change from a greater fractal dimension in childhood to a lesser fractal dimension in old age. Does the same hold for cognitive tasks? For instance, it is unclear whether cognitive coordination deteriorates with age.
With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Van Orden and his colleagues will substantially bridge these knowledge gaps as they investigate control and coordina-tion of cognitive and motor behavior across the life span. Their empirical studies will contribute to two distinct areas. First, findings of interdependence of motor and cognitive components may overhaul the common view that cognition unfolds independently of the motor actions of the body. Second, findings on how control and coordination of cognitive activity changes as a function of age will broadly inform developmental theory, including theory that links behavioral changes to cortical organization in a child's or adult's brain. The project also includes the use of new non-linear methods of recurrence quantifica-tion analysis as tools for fractal analysis, which may circumvent problems of linear tools, supply a more detailed picture of fractal behavior, and add methodological rigor to the study of fractal phenomena in all fields that confront such phenomena. Furthermore, support for this project will contribute catalytic funds to fully realize a planned interdisciplinary center for Cognition, Action & Perception at the U. of Cincinnati.
