Ferdinando (Sandro) Mussa-Ivaldi is an Italian born professor at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. He is known for his contributions to the fields of

motor control Motor control is the regulation of movements in organisms that possess a nervous system. Motor control includes conscious voluntary movements, subconscious muscle memory and involuntary reflexes, as well as instinctual taxes. To control ...

motor learning Motor learning refers broadly to changes in an organism's movements that reflect changes in the structure and function of the nervous system. Motor learning occurs over varying timescales and degrees of complexity: humans learn to walk or talk over ...

and

computational neuroscience Computational neuroscience (also known as theoretical neuroscience or mathematical neuroscience) is a branch of neuroscience which employs mathematics, computer science, theoretical analysis and abstractions of the brain to understand th ...

Biography

Sandro Mussa-Ivaldi obtained a degree (

Laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremo ...

) in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from the University of Torino (1978) and a PhD in biomedical engineering from the Politecnico di Milano (1987). He was a postdoctoral fellow and principal research scientist in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. He is now Professor of Physiology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Biomedical Engineering at

. He is the founder and director of the Robotics Laboratory in the

Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), is a not-for-profit physical medicine and rehabilitation research hospital based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1954, the AbilityLab is designed for patient c ...

Scientific contributions

Mussa-Ivaldi’s research combines experimental methods with the application of computational principles. His experimental work has been influential for the study of arm

biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to Organ (anatomy), organs, Cell (biology), cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechani ...

and, in particular,

in human subjects. He has also studied motor primitives in the frog's

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal c ...

that are a central issue in many theories of motor control. Sandro Mussa-Ivaldi's theoretical work has focused on the analysis of redundant

kinematics In physics, kinematics studies the geometrical aspects of motion of physical objects independent of forces that set them in motion. Constrained motion such as linked machine parts are also described as kinematics. Kinematics is concerned with s ...

in human subjects. He has asked how a variety of movement patterns and control strategies can be constructed from the superposition of a set of basis

fields Fields may refer to: Music *Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006 * Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971 * ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010) * "Fields", a song by ...

. Of particular theoretical importance is his discovery of how pseudoinverses of Jacobians can be computed so that integrability is always a given. In some more recent work, Sandro Mussa-Ivaldi has applied computational ideas to the design of brain machine interfaces. He and his collaborators have developed the first neurorobotic system in which a neural preparation in-vitro - the brainstem of a

Lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are a group of Agnatha, jawless fish comprising the order (biology), order Petromyzontiformes , sole order in the Class (biology), class Petromyzontida. The adult lamprey is characterize ...

- controls the behavior of a mobile-robot through a closed-loop interaction. Recent research in the lab of Dr. Mussa-Ivaldi addresses clinical questions where computational insights can be used to better the lives of persons with disabilities.

External links

The robotics lab at the rehabilitation institute of Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mussa-Ivaldi, Sandro Italian emigrants to the United States Northwestern University faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people)