Optimal control theory is a mature mathematical discipline with numerous applications in both science and engineering. It is emerging as the computational framework of choice for studying the neural control of movement, in much the same way that probabilistic inference is emerging as the computational framework of choice for studying sensory information processing. Despite the growing popularity of optimal control models, however, the elaborate mathematical machinery behind them is rarely exposed and the big picture is hard to grasp without reading a few technical books on the subject. … Optimal Control Theory