Parallel Visuomotor Processing in Human Prehension Movements

The assessment of visuomotor function can provide important information about neurological status. Many tasks exist for testing visuomotor function in the laboratory, but the availability of portable, easy-to-use versions that allow reliable, accurate, and precise measurement of movement timing and accuracy has been limited. We developed a tablet application that uses three laboratory visuomotor tests: the double-step task, interception task, and stop-signal task. We asked the participants to perform both the lab and tablet versions of each task and compared their response patterns across equipment types to assess the validity of the tablet versions. On the double-step task, the participants adjusted to the displaced target adequately in both the lab and tablet versions. On the interception task, the participants intercepted nonaccelerating targets and performed worse on accelerating targets in both versions of the task. On the stop-signal task, the participants successfully inhibited their reaching movements on short stop-signal delays (50–150 ms) more frequently than on long stop-signal delays (200 ms) in both versions of the task. Our findings suggest that the tablet version of each task assesses visuomotor processing in the same way as their respective laboratory version, thus providing the research community with a new tool to assess visuomotor function.

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Intermittent Visuomotor Processing in the Human Cerebellum, Parietal Cortex, and Premotor Cortex

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00718.2005 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 95 (2) ◽

pp. 922-931 ◽

Cited By ~ 65

Author(s):

David E. Vaillancourt ◽

Mary A. Mayka ◽

Daniel M. Corcos

Keyword(s):

Parietal Cortex ◽

Visual Feedback ◽

Visual Information ◽

Grip Force ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Force Variability ◽

Neural Activation ◽

Control Force ◽

Force Condition ◽

Visuomotor Processing

The cerebellum, parietal cortex, and premotor cortex are integral to visuomotor processing. The parameters of visual information that modulate their role in visuomotor control are less clear. From motor psychophysics, the relation between the frequency of visual feedback and force variability has been identified as nonlinear. Thus we hypothesized that visual feedback frequency will differentially modulate the neural activation in the cerebellum, parietal cortex, and premotor cortex related to visuomotor processing. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla to examine visually guided grip force control under frequent and infrequent visual feedback conditions. Control conditions with intermittent visual feedback alone and a control force condition without visual feedback were examined. As expected, force variability was reduced in the frequent compared with the infrequent condition. Three novel findings were identified. First, infrequent (0.4 Hz) visual feedback did not result in visuomotor activation in lateral cerebellum (lobule VI/Crus I), whereas frequent (25 Hz) intermittent visual feedback did. This is in contrast to the anterior intermediate cerebellum (lobule V/VI), which was consistently active across all force conditions compared with rest. Second, confirming previous observations, the parietal and premotor cortices were active during grip force with frequent visual feedback. The novel finding was that the parietal and premotor cortex were also active during grip force with infrequent visual feedback. Third, right inferior parietal lobule, dorsal premotor cortex, and ventral premotor cortex had greater activation in the frequent compared with the infrequent grip force condition. These findings demonstrate that the frequency of visual information reduces motor error and differentially modulates the neural activation related to visuomotor processing in the cerebellum, parietal cortex, and premotor cortex.

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Perception and action planning: Getting it together

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x01490108 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 24 (5) ◽

pp. 907-908

Author(s):

David A. Westwood ◽

Melvyn A. Goodale

Keyword(s):

Visual Perception ◽

Perception And Action ◽

Action Planning ◽

Visual Control ◽

Point Of View ◽

Alternative Account ◽

Intentional Actions ◽

Visuomotor Processing ◽

Action And Perception ◽

High Level

Hommel et al. propose that high-level perception and action planning share a common representational domain, which facilitates the control of intentional actions. On the surface, this point of view appears quite different from an alternative account that suggests that “action” and “perception” are functionally and neurologically dissociable processes. But it is difficult to reconcile these apparently different perspectives, because Hommel et al. do not clearly specify what they mean by “perception” and “action planning.” With respect to the visual control of action, a distinction must be made between conscious visual perception and unconscious visuomotor processing. Hommel et al. must also distinguish between the what and how aspects of action planning, that is, planning what to do versus planning how to do it.

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Temporal coupling between transport and grasp components during prehension movements: effects of visual perturbation

Behavioural Brain Research ◽

10.1016/s0166-4328(05)80253-0 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 71-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

M. Gentilucci ◽

S. Chieffi ◽

M. Scarpa ◽

U. Castiello

Keyword(s):

Temporal Coupling ◽

Prehension Movements ◽

Visual Perturbation

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Influence of object position and size on human prehension movements

Experimental Brain Research ◽

10.1007/pl00005631 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 114 (2) ◽

pp. 226-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 122

Author(s):

Y. Paulignan ◽

V. G. Frak ◽

I. Toni ◽

M. Jeannerod

Keyword(s):

Object Position ◽

Prehension Movements

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Neuropsychological studies of perception and visuomotor control

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.1998.0291 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 353 (1373) ◽

pp. 1375-1384 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

A. D. Milner

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Visuomotor Control ◽

Normal Brain ◽

Visuomotor Processing ◽

Visual Systems ◽

Two Systems ◽

Neurological Conditions ◽

Neural Bases

According to recent conceptualizations, there are two separate cortical visual systems—each with its own distinctive cortical and subcortical links—and these two systems respectively serve the functions of perception and of motor control. These ideas have been arrived at through a confluence of neuroanatomical, electrophysiological, behavioural, and neuropsychological research. It is proposed that this distinction between two broad purposes of vision and their neural bases can provide useful working procedures for analysing both: (i) the nature of visuomotor processing in the normal brain; and also (ii) the abnormal patterns of visual processing that are seen in certain neurological conditions.

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