Coordination Dynamics

Abstract

Voluntary movements are typically coordinated in the sense that their components form ordered patterns. This includes the coordination of different spatial components of a movement, the coordination of different limbs, and also the coordination of movement with perceived events. More formally, coordination is characterized by stable relative timing of the movement components. Coordination dynamics is a theoretical approach to understanding how coordination arises which postulates that neural oscillators control the timing of each component. The coupling among such neural oscillators leads to stable relative timing. Mathematical models of coordination dynamics have been formulated at the level of the neural oscillators and their coupling, but also at the level of relative phase itself as a macroscopic, phenomenological variable. The observation of instabilities in relative timing has provided support to the notion of coordination dynamics.