The Bliss of Motor Abundance

📝 Weekly paper summary

The bliss (not the problem) of motor abundance (not redundancy) - Experimental Brain Research

Motor control is an area of natural science exploring how the nervous system interacts with other body parts and the environment to produce purposeful, coordinated actions. A central problem of motor control—the problem of motor redundancy—was formulated by Nikolai Bernstein as the problem of elimin…

SpringerLinkMark L. Latash

The bliss (not of the problem) of motor abundance (not redundancy) - Latash, 2012

Category

Review paper

Context

This paper is a classic in the study of motor control and coordination. Latash walks through the classical formulation of the motor redundancy problem (which he later re-defines as a bliss of motor abundance) from titans in the field such as Bernstein, Newell, and Zatsiorsky, and others. He then walks through the equilibrium-point (referent configuration) hypothesis, which is in many ways an amalgamation from Feldman's earlier ideas with the Uncontrolled Manifold Hypotheses developed by Scholz and Schöner, and how they lead to the formation of synergies ("neural organizations that ensure task-specific covariation of elemental variables stabilizing an important output variable" [pg. 5]).

For human movement scientists, or anyone interested in the study of human movement or simply its causes and consequences to design better rehabilitation or training programs, this is (in my opinion) a required reading!

🧠 Fun fact of the week

Alexander the Great may have been buried alive! After he was pronounced dead, it took days for his body to show any signs of decomposition. While some thought this was evidence that he was a god, it was perhaps because he wasn't actually dead yet. How could this have happened? His symptoms during his final days were consistent with that of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which induces paralysis in his body while maintaining complete mental faculties. If interested, this History article explains it in more detail!

Alexander the Great Died Mysteriously at 32. Now We May Know Why

When Alexander the Great died in Babylon in 323 B.C., his body didn’t begin to show signs of decomposition for a full six days, according to historical

HISTORYSarah Pruitt

🎙 Podcast recommendation

I honestly think this is one of the best podcasts I've listened to in a while. I admittedly know very little about Marxism and Communism, but Wolff does a  fantastic job outlining the differences between complex topics such as Marxism versus Socialism. I definitely didn't know much about the topic going into the podcast, but listening to them made me realize I knew WAY less than I initially thought. I hope you feel the same way after listening!

🗣 Quote of the week

"The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away."

- Marcus Aurelius