NWI-NM050B
Psychophysics 2
Course infoSchedule
Course moduleNWI-NM050B
Credits (ECTS)6
CategoryMA (Master)
Language of instructionEnglish
Offered byRadboud University; Faculty of Science; Wiskunde, Natuur- en Sterrenkunde;
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator
prof. dr. A.J. van Opstal
Other course modules lecturer
Lecturer
prof. dr. A.J. van Opstal
Other course modules lecturer
Contactperson for the course
prof. dr. A.J. van Opstal
Other course modules lecturer
Academic year2017
Period
KW3-KW4  (05/02/2018 to 02/09/2018)
Starting block
KW3
Course mode
full-time
Remarks-
Registration using OSIRISYes
Course open to students from other facultiesYes
Pre-registrationNo
Waiting listNo
Placement procedure-
Aims
  • The student is familiar with the main problems in the field of visual perception and motor control
  • The student is familair with Information Theory (Mutual information and maximum log likelyhood estimator) to estimate information transfer
  • The student can apply deterministic optional control (including Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation and Pontryagin Maximum Principle)
  • The student has the mathematical skills to develop advanced models to explain recent experimental data in a unified conceptual frame work
Content
The first eight weeks of the course deal with sensorimotor processing (eye movements, eye-head coordination, 3D motor control of the oculomotor system, nonlinear systems analysis (Wiener theory), cochlear mechanics and visual receptive fields. This material is described in a syllabus (blackboard).
In the second halve of this course we will present the general principles of  state estimation in the brain, and optimal control.
These principles are illustrated by discussing the functional characteristics of the visual system and motor system in man.
In the second part we follow the book of Shadmehr and Mussa-Ivaldi.
Literature
Necessary:

• Lecture notes will be made available on Blackboard.
• The textbook by R Shadmehr and Mussa-Ivaldi will be made available on Blackboard
• Recommended: A.J. van Opstal: The Auditory System and Human Sound Localization Behavior, Elsevier Academic Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-12-801529-2 (see also Psychophysics 1; book can be ordered at 30% discount via the lecturer)

Teaching formats

• 32 hours lecture
• 32 hours problem session
• 104 hours individual study period
Extra information teaching methods: Lectures, presentations by students of recent papers on this topic, exercises and problemsolving

Additional comments
Please contact prof. dr. A.J. van Opstal at j.vanopstal@donders.ru.nl if you plan to do this course.

Topics
• Control Theory

• Conditions of stability of nonlinear systems
• Conditions for stable control
• Algorithms for optimal control

• Information Theory

• Entropy; mutual information
• Efficiency of information coding
• Parameter estimation principles

• The visual system

• Organisation of the visual system
• Efficiency of visual information processing

• The motor system

• Organisation of the motor system
• Optimal control of the motor system
• Control of redundant manipulators

Test information
Written exam

Prerequisites
Bachelor courses: Neurofysica 1 and 2, Psychofysica 1

Required materials
Reader
Lecture notes will be made available on Blackboard.
Book
The textbook by R Shadmehr and Mussa-Ivaldi will be made available on Blackboard

Recommended materials
Book
A.J. van Opstal: The Auditory System and Human Sound Localization Behavior, Elsevier Academic Press, 2016. (see also Psychophysics 1; book can be ordered at 30% discount via the lecturer)
ISBN:9780128015292

Instructional modes
Course occurrence

Lecture

Tutorial

Zelfstudie

Tests
Tentamen
Test weight1
OpportunitiesBlock KW4, Block KW4