Timothy Verstynen

Timothy Verstynen's research centers on how we plan our actions, how this changes with experience, and how the organization of the underlying neural pathways regulates these abilities. Using a combination of psychophysics, computational modeling, and multimodal brain imaging (fMRI, diffusion imaging, TMS, etc.), Verstynen's lab focuses on three main research themes.

• Selecting or stopping actions: How do we quickly convert sensory cues into motor plans? How do we stop a planned action? How do these abilities break down in different populations?
• Dynamics of skill learning: Why are some skills learned quickly while others require days or weeks of practice? What are the computational and neural mechanisms involved?
• Structure-function associations: Does the topography (i.e., “wiring diagram”) of a neural pathway reveal aspects of its computations? What features predict individual differences in the organization or integrity of these connections?