Research presented in this dissertation has the central aim of applying a novel method of source localization called beamforming to neuromagnetic recordings for characterizing dynamic spatiotemporal activity of sensorimotor brain processes in subjects during rhythmic auditory stimulation, self-paced movement, and two sensorimotor coordination (synchronization and syncopation) tasks known to differentiate on the basis of behavioral stability. Each experimental condition was performed at different rates resulting in 26 experimental runs per subject. Event-related neural responses were recorded with a whole-head MEG system and characterized in terms of their phase-locked (evoked) and non-phase-locked (induced) activity within the brain using both whole-brain analysis and region of interest (ROI) analysis. The analysis of the auditory conditions revealed that neural activity within extraauditory areas throughout the brain, including sensorimotor cortex, is modulated by rhythmic auditory stimulation. Additionally, the temporal profile of this activity was markedly different between sensorimotor and auditory cortex, possibly revealing different physiological processes, entrained within a common network for representing isochronic auditory events. During self-paced movements cycle-by-cycle dynamics of induced neural activity was measured and consistent neuro-modulation in the form of event-related desynchronization (ERD) and synchronization (ERS) was observed at all rates investigated (0.25 - 1.75Hz). ERD and ERS modulations exhibited dynamic scaling properties on a cycle-by-cycle basis that depended on the period of movement. Activity in the beta- and mu-bands also exhibited patterns of phase locking between sensorimotor locations. Phase locking patterns exhibited abrupt decreases with increases in movement rate. / During sensorimotor coordination tasks, the effect of temporal positioning of the auditory stimulus was apparent within sensorimotor cortical sites. This finding offers direct source level support for previous sensor level analysis revealing a differentiation of functional specificity for mu- and beta-band activity (Chen, Ding, Kelso, 2003; Jantzen, Fuchs, Mayville et al., 2001; Mayville, Fuchs, Ding et al., 2001), and may be reflective of specific coupling mechanisms between auditory and sensorimotor networks. The beamformer analysis applied within this dissertation successfully characterized large-scale neural networks during a variety of rhythmic perceptual, motor, and sensorimotor tasks resulting in the general message that information processes across disparate parts of the brain from different sensory, motor, and cognitive modalities appear to have the ability for widespread integration. / by Paul Ferrari. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

It has been argued that the perception of apparent motion is based on the detection of counterchange (oppositely signed changes in luminance contrast at pairs of spatial locations) rather than motion energy (spatiotemporal changes in luminance). A constraint in furthering this distinction is that both counterchange and motion energy are present for most motion stimuli. Three experiments used illusory-contour and luminance-based stimuli to segregate (experiments 1 and 2) and combine (experiment 3) counterchange and motion energy information. Motion specified by counterchange was perceived for translating illusory squares over a wide range of frame durations, and preferentially for short motion paths. Motion specified by motion energy was diminished by relatively long frame durations, but was not affected by the length of the motion path. Results for the combined stimulus were consistent with counterchange as the basis for apparent motion perception, despite the presence of motion energy. / by Matthew Seifert. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The perception of visual motion is an integral aspect of many organisms' engagement with the world. In this dissertation, a theory for the perception of visual object-motion is developed. Object-motion perception is distinguished from objectless-motion perception both experimentally and theoretically. A continuoustime dynamical neural model is developed in order to generalize the ndings and provide a theoretical framework for continued re nement of a theory for object-motion perception. Theoretical implications as well as testable predictions of the model are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Yue Xiaomin. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-55). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter CHAPTER I --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1 --- Neuronal Synchronization --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Synchronization and attention --- p.4 / Chapter CHAPTER II --- METHODOLOGY OF EEG SIGNAL ANALYSIS / Chapter 1 --- A time series and a stochastic process --- p.8 / Chapter 2 --- Methods to capture neuronal synchronization --- p.10 / Chapter 3 --- Disadvantage of traditional method to calculate coherent --- p.11 / Chapter 4 --- Multivariate AutoRegressive model (MVAR) --- p.12 / Chapter 5 --- Estimation algorithm of MVAR model --- p.15 / Chapter 6 --- Validation of the algorithm by simulation --- p.17 / Chapter CHAPTER III --- EXPERIMENTS AND RESULTS / Chapter 1 --- Experiment --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Participants and experimental procedures --- p.21 / Chapter 1.2 --- EEG recording and processing --- p.22 / Chapter 1.3 --- Results and discussion --- p.23 / Chapter 2 --- Experiment / Chapter 2.1 --- Participants and experimental procedures --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2 --- EEG recording and processing --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3 --- Results and discussion --- p.33 / Chapter CHAPTER IV --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION / Chapter 1 --- Functional connection between different cortical areas --- p.42 / Chapter 2 --- Relationship of coherence to motor behavior --- p.45 / Chapter 3 --- Automatic synchronization --- p.46 / Reference --- p.48

Motion is a fundamental activity for the healthy functioning human organism. Its importance, however, is increasingly de-valued in Western cultures as they speed toward adopting technologies and virtual experiences as adjuncts to, and even replacements for7 traditional educational structures and processes that involve physical activity. Organised and reflective experience of human motion is becoming increasingly marginalised in teaching methodologies and learning programs in educational institutions at all levels around the globe. This inquiry sets out to gain a greater understanding of why people and human motion become disconnected, particularly during periods of formal education. A central question and two sub-questions form the basis of the inquiry. The central question asks why human motion is not valued and more utilised in education. In particular, why do learning areas that directly represent involvement with human motion, such as physical education, continually struggle in education programs. It directs the investigation to focus on the causes rather than the symptoms of the disuse and devaluation of human motion in Australian education. The two sub-questions split the praxis of the study. The first seeks to understand how the causes of devaluation work in the educational context lo affect the lack of acknowledgement; and the second considers ways to counter the disuse of human movement in education programs. To address these questions, the research focuses on rebutting the notion of a mind-body dualism. Rather, it seeks to better understand how humans learn and function as monists - integrated beings, acquiring self-knowledge in their 'world of being' in which bodily and emotional experiences, and reasoning are inextricably intertwined. I have approached this qualitative research as an ethnographic sociologist examining the issues from a critical high modernist perspective in order to demonstrate the pervading influence in Australian education of strong beliefs and values from the era of Enlightenment. Narrative analysis of 'memoir' in the form of self-defining memories was selected to gain a sensibility of the connectedness between human emotion, motion and reasoning in the lived experiences of students in three primary and three secondary schools across Years 2-12. An opportunity for human movement to be more valued and utilised in emerging educational frameworks that have life knowledge, dispositions and capabilities at their core is identified. The inquiry proposes a conceptualisation of human motion in education for new times characterised by the need for people to develop personal resources and strong positive identities in order to cope with a world of rapid change and uncertainty.

Thesis (M.S.)--Baylor University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-107).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: James C. Galloway, Dept. of Physical Therapy. Includes bibliographical references.

This study compared the effects of two conditions on the motor development of preschool children and investigated the relationship between preschool children's motor development and perceived competence. Specifically, it provided information for discerning: a) the relative effects of a sensory-motor condition and an unstructured activities condition on the motor development of preschool children immediately following the 20-week intervention; and b) whether perceived competence was related to motor development in the preschool children following termination of the treatment. Additionally, a teacher survey which addressed the teacher-consultant relationship was developed and piloted within the context of the study for use in future research. Subjects were 31 children enrolled in two preschool programs including: a) the curriculum group (N=16), and b) the non-curriculum group (N=l5). The Peabody Motor Developmental Scales and the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance were used to assess the children's motor development and perceived competence, respectively. All subjects were tested prior to the 20- week intervention period and immediately following the intervention. A series of 2 (group) X 2 (testing time) repeated measures analyses of variance were used to analyze the impact of the two conditions. Results revealed that the motor development of subjects in both groups changed significantly over time; however, there were no differences between groups. Product-moment correlations and linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between preschool children's motor development and perceived competence. Results revealed that perceived competence relative to motor development did not change over time; however a reciprocal relationship between motor development and perceived competence in preschool children was found. The piloted teacher survey showed potential for evaluation of service delivery models and as a tool for teacher-consultant communication in future studies. / Graduation date: 1991

Two experiments were designed to examine the influence of the strength of perceptionaction coupling on the control and learning of a visuomotor tracking pattern. Participants produced rhythmic elbow flexion-extension motions to learn a visually defined 90° relative phase tracking pattern with an external sinusoidal signal which was set at 0.8 Hz with 8 cycles in a trial. Day 1 and Day 2 practice sessions consisted of a total of 72 practice trials. There were two visuomotor congruency groups, a congruent group with visual feedback representing the elbow’s rotation and an incongruent group with feedback representing the elbow’s rotation transformed by 180°. Before Day 1 practice (pre-practice) and 24 hours after Day 2 practice (post-practice), participants produced 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, and 180° relative phase tracking patterns either with or without tracking feedback. The external signal and the limb’s feedback were provided in the same workspace in Experiment 1, while both signals were provided in a separate workspace in Experiment 2. The pre-practice results demonstrated that the 0° relative phase pattern was the most accurate and stable pattern, whereas the 90° and 135° relative phase patterns were less accurate and more variable. The incongruent group produced a more accurate and less variable 180° relative phase pattern compared to the congruent group. Practice led to a decrease in phase error and variability toward the required 90° relative phase pattern in both experiments. The congruent group produced more accurate tracking and less variable elbow amplitude compared to the incongruent group in the separate workspace, whereas no such congruency effects were found in the same workspace during practice. The post-practice results showed overall improvements in phase accuracy and stability in most relative phase patterns with practice. Overall deterioration in tracking performance was found when tracking without feedback in the pre- and post-practice sessions. These findings demonstrated that the perception-action coupling strength was modified by feedback, visuomotor mapping, perceptual pattern, and workspace framework. The differential strength of perception-action impacted the learning of the required visuomotor tracking pattern as well as the production of tracking accuracy and stability differentially among the other tracking patterns.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-144).