Bing Wen Brunton, University of Washington, Seattle

Embodied intelligence through integrated neuromechanical models of natural behavior
Date
Feb 17, 2025, 12:30 pm1:30 pm
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Event Description

The brain and body are inextricable in solving the pressing challenges faced by the animal. I will talk about our ongoing work with collaborators to build embodied models of the brain, where the nervous system interfaces explicitly with models of the body, including its kinematics, dynamics, and biomechanics. Our models are agent-based and generative, meaning that they have the ability to interact flexibly with a changing environment and also predict responses to physical or neural manipulations that were never seen in the training data. To make an analogy, we are developing for animals what are called `digital twin` models in engineering; a digital twin model of an airplane is a system-of-systems simulation that integrates many well known parts, like engines, aerodynamics, and electronics. For well studied model organisms like flies and rodents, we are developing a computational framework that connect comprehensive datasets, including the connectome, neurophysiology, musculoskeletal dynamics, and behavior.