Edinburgh Neuroscience Christmas Lecture 2010

What can insects and robots tell us about the human brain?

Humans are remarkable in their ability to achieve complex dynamic tasks that require memory, planning and optimal use of their body - getting around town and sports are everyday examples. Most importantly, we seem to be extremely good at adapting to changes in the environment or our own bodies, re-learning at various timescales ranging from milliseconds to days and months. Would it not be great to have machines that are as versatile and robust? Professor Barbara Webb and Professor Sethu Vijayakumar aim to explore with you this exciting area of interdisciplinary research. We look at computational principles behind insect navigation and learning, and how to build robots that mimic human form and capabilities; with the aim of not only building better machines but also understanding a little bit more about the working of the remarkable machine that is us!

Speakers:

• Professor Barbara Webb, Professor of Biorobotics, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
• Professor Sethu Vijayakumar, Professor of Robotics, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh

For more information please visit the Edinburgh Neuroscience website by clicking the link below: