- A324, Portland Square, Drake Circus
- +44 1752 586324
- ian.howard@plymouth.ac.uk
Profiles
Dr Ian Howard
Associate Professor Computational Neuroscience
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
Ian can be contacted through arrangement with our Press Office, to speak to the media on these areas of expertise.
- Human sensorimotor control
- Robotic manipulanda
- Motor learning
- Bimanual movement
- Computational modelling
- Infant speech acquisition
Email publicrelations@plymouth.ac.uk to enquire.
Role
Module leader for:
AINT351 Machine Learning
ROCO218 Control Engineering
ROCO224 Introduction to Robotics
Previously module leader for:
ROCO222 Introduction to Sensors and Actuators
SOFT561 Robot Software Engineering
SOFT141 Network Programming
Qualifications
Education/Qualifications
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, B.Sc. (Eng.), University College London
PhD, Speech Fundamental Period Estimation using Pattern Recognition, University College London
PostDoc, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
Professional membership
Society for the Neural Control of Movement
Society for Neuroscience
International Speech Communication Association (ISCA)
Research interests
I am actively involved in neuroscience research. This involves the study of the human motor system, with particular emphasis on arm and hand movements. I also develop computational models of infant speech acquisition. In addition, I design and develop robotic systems.
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Articles
2020
'Asymmetry in kinematic generalization between visual and passive lead-in movements are consistent with a forward model in the sensorimotor system'
PLOS ONE
15,
(1)
e0228083-e0228083
, DOI
PEARL
2019
'Alcohol, empathy, and morality: acute effects of alcohol consumption on affective empathy and moral decision-making'
Psychopharmacology
, DOI
PEARL
2017
'Virtual morality in the helping professions: Simulated action and resilience'
British Journal of Psychology
109,
(3)
442-465
, DOI
PEARL
2017
'Simulating Moral Actions: An Investigation of Personal Force in Virtual Moral Dilemmas'
Scientific Reports
, DOI
PEARL
2017
'Active lead-in variability affects motor memory formation and slows motor learning'
Scientific Reports
, DOI
PEARL
2017
'Correction: Virtual Morality: Transitioning from Moral Judgment to Moral Action?'
PLoS ONE
12,
(1)
e0170133-e0170133
, DOI
PEARL
2016
'Virtual Morality: Transitioning from Moral Judgment to Moral Action?'
PLOS ONE
11,
(10)
, DOI
PEARL
2016
'Adaptive tuning functions arise from visual observation of past movement'
Scientific reports
Publisher Site
, DOI
PEARL
2015
'Creating the cognitive form of phonological units: The speech sound correspondence problem in infancy could be solved by mirrored vocal interactions rather than by imitation'
Journal of Phonetics
53,
125-140
, DOI
PEARL
2015
'Enhanced cross-limb transfer of force field learning for dynamics that are identical in extrinsic and joint-based coordinates for both limbs'
J Neurophysiol.
PEARL
2015
'Neural Tuning Functions Underlie Both Generalization and Interference'
PLOS ONE
10,
(6)
e0131268-e0131268
, DOI
PEARL
2015
'The value of the follow-through derives from motor learning depending on future actions'
Curr Biol
25,
(3)
397-401
, DOI
PEARL
2014
'Learning to pronounce first words in three languages: an investigation of caregiver and infant behavior using a computational model of an infant'
PLoS One
9,
(10)
, DOI
PEARL
2013
'The effect of contextual cues on the encoding of motor memories'
J Neurophysiol
109,
(10)
2632-2644
, DOI
PEARL
2012
'Gone in 0.6 seconds: the encoding of motor memories depends on recent sensorimotor states'
J Neurosci
32,
(37)
12756-12768
, DOI
PEARL
2012
'Speech Development: Toddlers Don't Mind Getting It Wrong'
CURRENT BIOLOGY
22,
(5)
R160-R161
, DOI
PEARL
2011
'A Single-Rate Context-Dependent Learning Process Underlies Rapid Adaptation to Familiar Object Dynamics'
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
7,
(9)
, DOI
PEARL
2011
'Separate representations of dynamics in rhythmic and discrete movements: evidence from motor learning'
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
105,
(4)
1722-1731
, DOI
PEARL
2011
'Modeling the development of pronunciation in infant speech acquisition'
Motor Control
15,
(1)
85-117
PEARL
2010
'Context-Dependent Partitioning of Motor Learning in Bimanual Movements'
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
104,
(4)
2082-2091
, DOI
PEARL
2010
'Multiple Grasp-Specific Representations of Tool Dynamics Mediate Skillful Manipulation'
CURRENT BIOLOGY
20,
(7)
618-623
, DOI
PEARL
2009
'Statistics of Natural Movements Are Reflected in Motor Errors'
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
102,
(3)
1902-1910
, DOI
PEARL
2009
'A modular planar robotic manipulandum with end-point torque control'
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
181,
(2)
199-211
, DOI
PEARL
2008
'Composition and Decomposition in Bimanual Dynamic Learning'
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
28,
(42)
10531-10540
, DOI
PEARL
2008
'The statistics of natural hand movements'
EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH
188,
(2)
223-236
, DOI
PEARL
2004
'A Neuroeconomics Approach to Inferring Utility Functions in Sensorimotor Control'
PLoS Biology
2,
(10)
e330-e330
, DOI
PEARL
1990
'Real-time portable multi-layer perceptron voice fundamental-period extractor for hearing aids and cochlear implants'
Speech Communication
9,
(1)
63-72
, DOI
PEARL
0
'Asymmetry in kinematic generalization between visual and passive lead-in movements are consistent with a forward model in the sensorimotor system'
, DOI
Chapters
Conference Papers
2019
'A Modular 3D-Printed Inverted Pendulum'
1-/-0/1900
1-/-0/1900
Springer International Publishing
413-424
, DOI
PEARL
2012
'31.1:Invited Paper: Programmable Electrostatic Surface for Tactile Perceptions'
1-/-0/1900
1-/-0/1900
Wiley
407-410
, DOI
2010
'Workspace comparisons of setup configurations for human-robot interaction'
2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2010)
0-/-1/2010
0-/-1/2010
IEEE
, DOI
PEARL
2009
'KLAIR: a Virtual Infant for Spoken Language Acquisition Research'
1-/-0/1900
1-/-0/1900
696-+
PEARL
2008
'Modeling motor pattern generation in the development of infant speech production'
1-/-0/1900
1-/-0/1900
165-168
PEARL
2005
'Teaching a vocal tract simulation to imitate stop consonants'
1-/-0/1900
1-/-0/1900
3213-3216
PEARL
1993
'NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN SPEECH PATTERN ELEMENT HEARING-AIDS FOR THE PROFOUNDLY DEAF'
1-/-0/1900
1-/-0/1900
124-135
1991
'Further developments of a neural network speech fundamental period estimation algorithm'
1-/-0/1900
1-/-0/1900
340-344
PEARL
1991
'Feature extracting hearing aids for the profoundly deaf using a neural network implemented on a TMS320C51 digital signal processor'
Final Program and Paper Summaries 1991 IEEE ASSP Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics
0-/-1/1991
0-/-1/1991
IEEE
, DOI
1986
'TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE OPERATION OF REAL-TIME FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY EXTRACTORS'
1-/-0/1900
1-/-0/1900
172-177