Movement in 3D space

Humans and animals constantly interact with a dynamic environment. These interactions can include an observer moving relative to a stationary object, an object moving relative to a stationary observer or a combination of both thereof. Information about the movement of objects and observers themselves in the environment has important consequences for the survival of observers and for their skilled interaction with both the inanimate and animate objects in their environments. There may be several neural mechanisms that have evolved to compute information to control different classes of action, in different animal species, and even different mechanisms within the same animal for different functions. Moreover, navigation requires the integration of visual, proprioceptive and vestibular cues, which aid in the tracking of both self-motion and the motion of objects in our environment.

Through neurophysiological and psychophysical studies, a substantial body of knowledge about how animals and humans process information about impending collision and optic flow has been accumulated. This Research Topic aims to bring together new contributions in these investigations. Moreover, we also hope to provide opportunities to showcase new contributions from studies using functional imaging and studies from neurological patients and hopefully relate these findings to parallel developments in psychophysics and computational modeling.