Science Explorer Interactive view Map

Motor Control and Adaptation

Motor Control and Adaptation is a research topic within Cognitive Neuroscience. Science Explorer counts 28k research works in it since 1950. 19.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the computational principles, neural basis, and learning mechanisms underlying motor control, sensorimotor learning, feedback control, and the role of structures such as the cerebellum in motor skill acquisition. It delves into topics like muscle synergies, visuomotor integration, implicit learning, and neuroplasticity in the context of motor control.

  • Motor Control
  • Sensorimotor Learning
  • Feedback Control
  • Neural Basis
  • Motor Skill
  • Cerebellum
  • Muscle Synergies
  • Visuomotor Integration
  • Implicit Learning
  • Neuroplasticity
Research works
28k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
5.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
19.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-9%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Motor Control and Adaptation research?

By volume, the United States and Japan publish the most (737 and 381 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 737 works
  2. 2 Japan 381 works
  3. 3 China 297 works
  4. 4 Germany 289 works
  5. 5 Canada 218 works
  6. 6 Italy 211 works
  7. 7 France 190 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 183 works
  9. 9 Australia 86 works
  10. 10 Netherlands 84 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 27.5%Japan: 14.2%China: 11.1%Germany: 10.8%6 others listed: 36.4%28%largest
United States737 · 27.5%Japan381 · 14.2%China297 · 11.1%Germany289 · 10.8%6 others listed974 · 36.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Motor Control and Adaptation research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Motor Control and Adaptation research, followed by The University of Tokyo and Imperial College London.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 21 works
  2. 2 The University of Tokyo Japan 18 works
  3. 3 Imperial College London United Kingdom 17 works
  4. 4 Western University Canada 17 works
  5. 5 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands 16 works
  6. 6 Pennsylvania State University United States 16 works
  7. 7 University of British Columbia Canada 15 works
  8. 8 Technical University of Munich Germany 14 works
  9. 9 York University Canada 13 works
  10. 10 Waseda University Japan 13 works

Who are the leading researchers in Motor Control and Adaptation?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Motor Control and Adaptation include Stephen Grossberg.

  1. 1 Stephen Grossberg 2.9k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Motor Control and Adaptation research done?

The largest centres of Motor Control and Adaptation research in 2022–2025 are Tokyo (Japan), Beijing (China), Paris (France) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Genoa.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Tokyo Japan 124 works
  2. 2 Beijing China 66 works
  3. 3 Paris France 60 works
  4. 4 London United Kingdom 55 works
  5. 5 Rome Italy 51 works
  6. 6 Shanghai China 45 works
  7. 7 Toronto Canada 38 works
  8. 8 Montreal Canada 32 works
  9. 9 Seoul South Korea 26 works
  10. 10 Tehran Iran 26 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. GenoaIT · 25.5 works13×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Motor Control and Adaptation than the world average.

See Motor Control and Adaptation on the map

Where is the best place to study Motor Control and Adaptation?

Among universities, judged by research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Radboud University Nijmegen and Shanghai University of Sport score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 24.24%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: 16, 26.0%Radboud University Nijmegen: 11, 31.2%Shanghai University of Sport: 8, 36.8%Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen: 9, 22.6%UCLouvain: 11, 14.3%Imperial College London: 17, 18.2%Pennsylvania State University: 16, 35.5%Western University: 16, 14.8%German Sport University Cologne: 12, 20.9%University of Delaware: 11, 22.1%Shanghai University …Radboud University N…Vrije Universiteit A…Justus-Liebig-Univer…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands 70.126.0%12.2×16 -24.7%
2Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands 60.531.2%7.9×11 -28.8%
3Shanghai University of Sport China 60.336.8%41.3×8 -10.7%
4Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen Germany 58.422.6%12.2×9 +45.2%
5UCLouvain Belgium 56.214.3%12.3×11 +23.3%
6Imperial College London United Kingdom 54.718.2%5.5×17 -8.1%
7Pennsylvania State University United States 54.335.5%4.8×16 -55.0%
8Western University Canada 54.114.8%8.9×16 -35.1%
9German Sport University Cologne Germany 54.020.9%57.8×12 -14.2%
10University of Delaware United States 52.922.1%10.7×11 -13.2%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Motor Control and Adaptation research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Motor Control and Adaptation.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.