Abstract

The double-faceted title of this presentation combines, on the one hand, the titles of two separate books published recently by Baram and, on the other, two seemingly different concepts, which, as will be shown, have a lot in common. An early motivation of Baram by his studies of aeronautical engineering and control theory, and a coincidental TV exposition of a Parkinson’s disease patient, have, somewhat unexpectedly, raised Baram’s interest in the interaction between brain, neurology and motion control. The underlying mathematics of it all was an intriguing factor. Still, the consequential personal interaction with neurological patients and doctors was a highly rewarding introduction of Baram to a new world. The first step was the creation of a closed-loop apparatus, which provides motion-impaired patients with a virtual tiled floor. Having received a formal US patent license for his device, Baram developed smaller, lighter, portable devices, including auditory feedback corresponding to the patient’s steps. At the same time, Baram teamed with medical neurologists in both Israel and the US to perform clinical testing of patients with Parkinson’s disease, Multiple sclerosis, Cerebral palsy, Stroke, and idiopathic senile gait. Most highly successful test results were published in leading medical journals and conferences. In addition, Baram has published highly endowed papers in the scientific literature and like conferences, addressing control theory, neural networks and cortical connectivity and functionality. Having received several honorable mentions and research awards and having been head of the Technion Center for Artificial Intelligence until his retirement in 2015, Baram is still an active researcher at the Technion.