Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

A model of motor planning is proposed that relies on energy regulation. The system to be controlled is treated as a point mass, and its motion is governed in part by an artificial (or internal) potential. In this case, the energy to be regulated is also artificial, since it is the sum of real kinetic energy and artificial potential energy. Energy regulation is achieved by enforcing Hamilton's principle of least action to drive the motion. By regulating the energy of the point mass, straight=line reaches or circular orbits can be planned. An extension of a previous model for the striatum is summarized in terms of energy based control. Finally, this extension is discussed in the context of hypokinetic symptoms seen in Parkinson's disease.