Research Overview
A central challenge for many organisms is the generation of stable, versatile locomotion through irregular, complex environments. Animals have evolved to negotiate almost every environment on this planet. To do this, animals' nervous systems acquire, process and act upon information. Yet their brains must operate through the mechanics of the body’s sensors and actuators to both perceive and act upon the environment. Our research investigates how physics and physiology enable locomoting animals to achieve the remarkable stability and maneuverability we see in biological systems. Conceptually, this demands combining neuroscience, muscle physiology, and biomechanics with an eye towards revealing mechanism and principle -- an integrative science of biological movement. This emerging field, termed neuromechanics, does for biology what mechatronics, the integration of electrical and mechanical system design, has done for engineering. Namely, it provides a mechanistic context for the electrical (neuro-) and physical (mechanical) determinants of movement in organisms. We explore how animals fly and run stably even in the face of repeated perturbations, how the multifuncationality of muscles arises from their physiological properties, and how the tiny brains of insects organize and execute movement.
Determining the biochemical changes associated with feeding and flight
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How an ecologically-relevant odor affects visual motion processing
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Temporal encoding across a motor program for the hawkmoth’s agile flight
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within-wingstroke body motion affect on insect flight dynamics
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The evolution of different strategies for agile flight
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The convergent evolution of blinking in mudskippers and tetrapods
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Natural flower wakes present aerodynamic challenges to pollinators
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Natural wing flexibility prevents leading-edge vortex (LEV) bursting
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Centralization of Locomotor Control in Roaches & Robots
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Moths change their behavior, but not their aerodynamics to feed in windy environments
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X-ray diffraction through living muscle
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Moths slow their brains to track flowers in low light
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How antennae encode mechanical stimuli for tactile navigation
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Simultaneous dimensionality reduction of motor commands and movement
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Control theoretic approaches to experiment and analysis of locomotion
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How temperature makes moth muscle bifunctional.
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Precision phase control in flight muscles
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Evolution of whale body size
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An intact-limb workloop reveals how cockroach muscle changes function
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Rewriting motor commands in a freely running animal shows the multifunctionality of muscle
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Gecko adhesive hairs gets stickier the faster they slide
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Bio-inspiration from how cockroaches navigate by touch
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How roaches run on rough terrian.
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Flexible multielectrodes for recording from insect muscles
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How do geckos stick to almost any surface?
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