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About

Markus Plank’s research sits at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, human-robot interaction, and motor control, exploring how the human brain perceives, processes, and executes actions. His most influential work, the 2013 study on EEG theta and mu oscillations during perception of human and robot actions (102 citations), investigates whether the brain’s action-processing mechanisms are uniquely tuned to biological agents. By comparing neural responses to human, android, and robot movements, Plank reveals how visual form and motion kinematics shape action perception, offering critical insights for social robotics and neurorehabilitation. His contributions extend to motor control, where he uses EEG microstate analysis to uncover discrete neural building blocks underlying movement corrections. In clinical neuroscience, Plank examines proprioceptive feedback’s role in Parkinsonian resting tremor, employing haptic robots to modulate sensory input and track EEG correlates. He also pioneered the adaptation of haptic robots for use in 3T fMRI environments, enabling simultaneous kinematic measurement and brain imaging. With a citation count exceeding 120, Plank’s work bridges engineering, neuroscience, and psychology, advancing our understanding of action perception and motor disorders.