Our movements are controlled at many levels. At the lowest levels, muscle forces are carefully calibrated to where we want our joints to be. At the highest levels, we know what we want to be doing next year, and choose our actions accordingly. Optimal motor control is an elegant mathematical framework that operates at an intermediate level, and makes precise quantitative predictions about the control and selection of actions.
We apply motor control theory do understand the changes occurring in Parkinson’s disease, ranging from pure motor to high-level cognitive domains.