9409045 Massone The research proposed in this application is concerned with investigating the relevance of dynamic motor maps in the design of control systems for biological and artificial plants using a computational, neural network based approach. Dynamic motor maps are found in one area of the brain called the superior colliculus. The superior colliculus plays a major role in the control of gaze shifts, that is, a combined movement of the head and eyes. Dynamic motor maps exhibit a number of interesting properties that make them very general, flexible and effective devices that can be employed to control not only the head and eye movement system, but any kind of system. The specific aims of the project are to: (1) continue and extend ongoing studies of dynamic motor maps in the oculomotor system, (2) extend the use of dynamic motor maps to the arm motor system, and (3) study mechanisms of hand-eye coordination by coupling the eye motor map and the arm motor map. ***
