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SUMMARY:From instability to efficiency: sensorimotor strategies for locomo
 tion in fish
DTSTART:20260609T090000
DTEND:20260609T100000
DTSTAMP:20260603T063104Z
UID:fcbe19690e6d58678c9eb2036f665570304df4e9f36f1776940e6896
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Georges Debregeas\nAbstract: Animal locomotion arises f
 rom a continuous feedback loop between motor commands and sensory inputs. 
 From a physical perspective\, this loop faces fundamental challenges: time
  delays can lead to instabilities\, the relationship between action and se
 nsory feedback is context-dependent\, and both body and environment evolve
  over time. How biological systems achieve stable yet flexible behavior un
 der these constraints remains an open question. In this talk\, I will pres
 ent experiments performed on a miniature and transparent fish\, combining 
 quantitative behavioral assays with brain-wide neuronal recordings. I will
  first show how stable navigation can emerge from a simple feedback mechan
 ism\, provided that sensory and motor transformations are nonlinear. I wil
 l then turn to locomotor development. Using freely swimming assays\, we id
 entify a transition from continuous swimming in larvae to an intermittent 
 burst-and-glide strategy in juveniles. Our analysis shows that this transi
 tion\, which is energetically optimal\, reflects an in-built bifurcation i
 n the dynamical system governing speed control. Together\, these results s
 how how animals exploit nonlinearities and instabilities of their sensorim
 otor systems to achieve efficient and adaptive locomotion.
LOCATION:GA 3 21 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==GA%203%2021
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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