Brains that Adapt: Memory, Movement and Recovery

Human movement is highly variable—simple actions like walking or reaching can be performed using many combinations of muscles and joints. This movement "redundancy" allows us to adapt to changing environments and physical demands. After a stroke, the brain often sacrifices this flexibility for basic function by simplifying movement—reducing the number of active joints, constraining variability. While effective, this limits adaptability, making it harder to adjust to new tasks or environments. This talk explores how harnessing the brain's plasticity through targeted rehabilitation can restore both movement and adaptability, enhancing recovery and promoting richer motor possibilities.

Lennon & McCartney, Bert & Ernie. Our thoughts jump from association to association, memories trigger the recall of associated memories, we even think of our social networks as chains of associations. I will explore how a structure in our brains, the hippocampus, learns new associations and recalls remembered associations. By studying the activity of single cells in the brains of epileptic patients I will answer age old questions such as: Why did Shrek walk into a bar? What links Beyoncé and Greta Thunberg? And what has all this got to do with rats running in mazes?