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Main Authors: White, O., Buisseret, F., Dierick, F., Boulanger, N.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.07454
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author White, O.
Buisseret, F.
Dierick, F.
Boulanger, N.
author_facet White, O.
Buisseret, F.
Dierick, F.
Boulanger, N.
contents Optimal Feedback Control (OFC) provides a theoretical framework for goal-directed movements, where the nervous system adjusts actions based on sensory feedback. In OFC, the central nervous system (CNS) not only reacts to stimuli but proactively predicts and adjusts motor commands, minimizing errors and (often energetic) costs through internal models. OFC theory assumes that there exists a cost function that is optimized throughout one's movement. It is natural to assume that mechanical quantities should be involved in cost functions. This does not imply that the mechanical principles that govern human voluntary movements are necessarily Newtonian. Indeed, the undisputed efficiency of Newtonian mechanics to model and predict the motion of non-living systems does not guarantee its relevance to model human behavior. We propose that integrating principles from Lagrangian and Hamiltonian higher-derivative mechanics, i.e. dynamical models that go beyond Newtonian mechanics, provides a more natural framework to study the constraints hidden in human voluntary movement within OFC theory.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_07454
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle From Brain to Motion: Harnessing Higher-Derivative Mechanics for Neural Control
White, O.
Buisseret, F.
Dierick, F.
Boulanger, N.
Neurons and Cognition
Classical Physics
Optimal Feedback Control (OFC) provides a theoretical framework for goal-directed movements, where the nervous system adjusts actions based on sensory feedback. In OFC, the central nervous system (CNS) not only reacts to stimuli but proactively predicts and adjusts motor commands, minimizing errors and (often energetic) costs through internal models. OFC theory assumes that there exists a cost function that is optimized throughout one's movement. It is natural to assume that mechanical quantities should be involved in cost functions. This does not imply that the mechanical principles that govern human voluntary movements are necessarily Newtonian. Indeed, the undisputed efficiency of Newtonian mechanics to model and predict the motion of non-living systems does not guarantee its relevance to model human behavior. We propose that integrating principles from Lagrangian and Hamiltonian higher-derivative mechanics, i.e. dynamical models that go beyond Newtonian mechanics, provides a more natural framework to study the constraints hidden in human voluntary movement within OFC theory.
title From Brain to Motion: Harnessing Higher-Derivative Mechanics for Neural Control
topic Neurons and Cognition
Classical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.07454