A recent review by NYU Shanghai Professor of Neural Science and Psychology Li Li, published in Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, highlights how classical control theory, originally developed in engineering, can offer powerful insights into how we integrate visual information with motor actions in real time.
While control theory has long been a cornerstone of systems engineering, its application in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience has been limited. “I hope this review will bridge that gap, by demonstrating how control-theoretic models can quantify the dynamic feedback loops that govern how we see and move,” Li said. The review brings together findings across a wide range of populations and behaviors—from everyday motor coordination to elite athletic performance and clinical motor disorders.
Drawing from recent research, the review shows how visual cues affect motor control in both eye and hand tracking tasks. It explores how action video game training can enhance visual-motor sensitivity, how expert athletes achieve greater motor precision, and how neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease disrupt both visual prediction and motor stability. According to the review, control theory not only captures these behaviors with precision, but also reveals underlying mechanisms such as sensory delay, feedback gain, and anticipatory control.
Li emphasizes that this framework allows researchers to move beyond traditional trial-based methods and instead model perception and action as a unified, dynamic system. This has practical implications for fields ranging from sports science and rehabilitation to human-computer interaction and neurodiagnostics.
Looking ahead, Li hopes the review will encourage more interdisciplinary collaboration and inspire new studies that apply control-theoretic tools to understand individual differences, aging, and disease progression, and to design smarter, more adaptive technologies for the future.