On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Carolyn Kroger. Carolyn is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Psychology – Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience. The coordination of movements in space and time is required for successful action in a dynamic world. Behavioral and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, stuttering, and Cerebellar dysfunction can make even simple actions difficult to execute, with devastating repercussions for independence and quality of life. These disorders are not only accompanied by symptoms of movement dysfunction, but have also been associated with disrupted timing. Additionally, in healthy individuals, there are perceptual interactions between space and time. Research has shown that changes in observed motion distance cause corresponding distortions in temporal perception (e.g. greater spatial separation between events leads to the overestimation of elapsed time). However, there is a gap in understanding of how space and time interact in the production and coordination of actions. Carolyn’s research focuses on how changes in the timing of human movements influence spatial dynamics and, conversely, how changes in spatial dynamics influence movement timing. The goal of this research is to work toward a unified theory of spacetime for human action, which has the potential to improve diagnostics and interventions for disorders of movement and timing.
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