Dr.ir. Alfred Schouten

My research focuses on methods and devices to assess and understand neuromuscular control in both healthy subjects and patients with neurological dysfunction. Key is the use of force-controlled robotic manipulators, neuromuscular modelling, and closed-loop system identification techniques to untangle the human motor control system.

Since my PhD I have developed system identification techniques that enable to quantify the contributions of different feedback pathways. My research resulted in a unique method that can distinguish and quantify the position, velocity and force feedback gains simultaneously. The key concept is the use of force-controlled robotic manipulators which allow for natural movement. Together with medical specialist from academic medical centers (LUMC, AMC, ErasmusMC) we apply the methodology to get insight in neurological dysfunction and working to use these manipulators as diagnostic tools.

Recent years I started to apply the methodology of perturbations and closed-loop system identification to understand the cortical contribution to human motor control. Very recently we demonstrated that the cortico-muscular coherence, a measure for the functional connectivity between the brain and muscles, increases with external perturbations.