From an engineering standpoint, Gandhi said, the finding may have implications for algorithm design. For instance, a similarly designed system could serve as a framework for an autonomous vehicle system that could accelerate when a light turns green, but also delay that action if it sensed something in the crosswalk. The system could analyze the object and, if the coast is clear, it could then begin to drive.
Lead author Eve Ayar, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University and a member of Gandhi's lab, found their results may have implications for better understanding the mechanisms underlying"There are a lot of disorders out there where people are unable to take in that sensory stimulus in your environment and make some kind of movement or action in response to that," Ayar said.
"I think this is valuable not only for better understanding this structure of the brain, but potentially it will help us understand how other regions in the are operating as well," Ayar said."And help us be able to differentiate different signals underlying different behaviors."Eve C. Ayar et al, Distinct context- and content-dependent population codes in superior colliculus during sensation and action,