Daniel Wolpert – 'Computational principles underlying the learning of sensorimotor repertoires'

About the Wu Tsai Neuro MBCT Seminar Series
The Stanford Center for Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology (MBCT) seminar series explores ways in which computational and technical approaches are being used to advance the frontiers of neuroscience. It features speakers from other institutions, Stanford faculty and senior training program trainees.

About the speaker
Daniel Wolpert
Columbia University

Seminar Abstract

Humans spend a lifetime learning, storing and refining a repertoire of motor memories appropriate for the multitude of tasks we perform. However, it is unknown what principle underlies the way our continuous stream of sensorimotor experience is segmented into separate memories and how we adapt and use this growing repertoire. I will review our work on how humans learn to make skilled movements focussing on the role role of context in organizing motor memories. I will then present a principled theory of motor learning based on the key insight that memory creation, updating, and expression are all controlled by a single computation – contextual inference. Unlike dominant theories of single-context learning, our repertoire-learning model accounts for key features of motor learning that had no unified explanation and predicts novel phenomena, which we confirm experimentally. These results suggest that contextual inference is a key principle underlying how a diverse set of experiences is reflected in motor behavior.