Learn to act. Act to learn.

Learning helps us act, and acting gives us new ways to learn. When learning an instrument, for example, what we hear guides our movements, while trying different movements reveals how to produce the sounds we want. We study how the brain connects learning and action, with a particular focus on time: how we discover patterns in unfolding events, anticipate what comes next, and learn to act at the right moment. We also ask how people decide when to rely on what they already know and when to try something new—choosing actions both to achieve a goal and to discover how to achieve it better.

Speech, music, and rhythm offer a window into these questions.