scholarly journals Evidence for distinct brain networks in the control of rule-based motor behavior

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 1298-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua A. Granek ◽  
Lauren E. Sergio

Reach guidance when the spatial location of the viewed target and hand movement are incongruent (i.e., decoupled) necessitates use of explicit cognitive rules (strategic control) or implicit recalibration of gaze and limb position (sensorimotor recalibration). In a patient with optic ataxia (OA) and bilateral superior parietal lobule damage, we recently demonstrated an increased reliance on strategic control when the patient performed a decoupled reach (Granek JA, Pisella L, Stemberger J, Vighetto A, Rossetti Y, Sergio LE. PLoS One 8: e86138, 2013). To more generally understand the fundamental mechanisms of decoupled visuomotor control and to more specifically test whether we could distinguish these two modes of movement control, we tested healthy participants in a cognitively demanding dual task. Participants continuously counted backward while simultaneously reaching toward horizontal (left or right) or diagonal (equivalent to top-left or top-right) targets with either veridical or rotated (90°) cursor feedback. By increasing the overall neural load and selectively compromising potentially overlapping neural circuits responsible for strategic control, the complex dual task served as a noninvasive means to disrupt the integration of a cognitive rule into a motor action. Complementary to our previous results observed in patients with optic ataxia, here our dual task led to greater performance deficits during movements that required an explicit rule, implying a selective disruption of strategic control in decoupled reaching. Our results suggest that distinct neural processing is required to control these different types of reaching because in considering the current results and previous patient results together, the two classes of movement could be differentiated depending on the type of interference.

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail Musen ◽  
Sumanas Siripant ◽  
Lori Boncher

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Soulard ◽  
J. Vaillant ◽  
R. Balaguier ◽  
N. Vuillerme

AbstractInertial measurement units (IMUs) are increasingly popular and may be usable in clinical routine to assess gait. However, assessing their intra-session reliability is crucial and has not been tested with foot-worn sensors in healthy participants. The aim of this study was to assess the intra-session reliability of foot-worn IMUs for measuring gait parameters in healthy adults. Twenty healthy participants were enrolled in the study and performed the 10-m walk test in single- and dual-task ('carrying a full cup of water') conditions, three trials per condition. IMUs were used to assess spatiotemporal gait parameters, gait symmetry parameters (symmetry index (SI) and symmetry ratio (SR)), and dual task effects parameters. The relative and the absolute reliability were calculated for each gait parameter. Results showed that spatiotemporal gait parameters measured with foot-worn inertial sensors were reliable; symmetry gait parameters relative reliability was low, and SR showed better absolute reliability than SI; dual task effects were poorly reliable, and taking the mean of the second and the third trials was the most reliable. Foot-worn IMUs are reliable to assess spatiotemporal and symmetry ratio gait parameters but symmetry index and DTE gait parameters reliabilities were low and need to be interpreted with cautious by clinicians and researchers.


1979 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis R. Marcos

16 subordinate bilingual subjects produced 5-min. monologues in their nondominant languages, i.e., English or Spanish. Hand-movement activity manifested during the videotape monologues was scored and related to measures of fluency in the nondominant language. The hand-movement behavior categorized as Groping Movement was significantly related to all of the nondominant-language fluency measures. These correlations support the assumption that Groping Movement may have a function in the process of verbal encoding. The results are discussed in terms of the possibility of monitoring central cognitive processes through the study of “visible” motor behavior.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodika Sokoliuk ◽  
Sara Calzolari ◽  
Damian Cruse

AbstractThe notion of semantic embodiment posits that concepts are represented in the same neural sensorimotor systems that were involved in their acquisition. However, evidence in support of embodied semantics – in particular the hypothesised contribution of motor and premotor cortex to the representation of action concepts – is varied. Here, we tested the hypothesis that, consistent with semantic embodiment, sensorimotor cortices will rapidly become active while healthy participants access the meaning of visually-presented motor and non-motor action verbs. Event-related potentials revealed early differential processing of motor and non-motor verbs (164-203ms) within distinct regions of cortex likely reflecting rapid cortical activation of differentially distributed semantic representations. However, we found no evidence for a specific role of sensorimotor cortices in supporting these representations. Moreover, we observed a later modulation of the alpha band (8-12Hz) from 555-785ms over central electrodes, with estimated generators within the left superior parietal lobule, which may reflect post-lexical activation of the object-directed features of the motor action concepts. In conclusion, we find no evidence for a specific role of sensorimotor cortices when healthy participants judge the meaning of visually-presented action verbs. However, the relative contribution of sensorimotor cortices to action comprehension may vary as a function of task goals.


2008 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 573-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Kristian Aune ◽  
Arve Vorland Pedersen ◽  
Rolf P. Ingvaldsen
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 1967-1976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Gouirand ◽  
James Mathew ◽  
Eli Brenner ◽  
Frederic R. Danion

Adapting hand movements to changes in our body or the environment is essential for skilled motor behavior. Although eye movements are known to assist hand movement control, how eye movements might contribute to the adaptation of hand movements remains largely unexplored. To determine to what extent eye movements contribute to visuomotor adaptation of hand tracking, participants were asked to track a visual target that followed an unpredictable trajectory with a cursor using a joystick. During blocks of trials, participants were either allowed to look wherever they liked or required to fixate a cross at the center of the screen. Eye movements were tracked to ensure gaze fixation as well as to examine free gaze behavior. The cursor initially responded normally to the joystick, but after several trials, the direction in which it responded was rotated by 90°. Although fixating the eyes had a detrimental influence on hand tracking performance, participants exhibited a rather similar time course of adaptation to rotated visual feedback in the gaze-fixed and gaze-free conditions. More importantly, there was extensive transfer of adaptation between the gaze-fixed and gaze-free conditions. We conclude that although eye movements are relevant for the online control of hand tracking, they do not play an important role in the visuomotor adaptation of such tracking. These results suggest that participants do not adapt by changing the mapping between eye and hand movements, but rather by changing the mapping between hand movements and the cursor’s motion independently of eye movements. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Eye movements assist hand movements in everyday activities, but their contribution to visuomotor adaptation remains largely unknown. We compared adaptation of hand tracking under free gaze and fixed gaze. Although our results confirm that following the target with the eyes increases the accuracy of hand movements, they unexpectedly demonstrate that gaze fixation does not hinder adaptation. These results suggest that eye movements have distinct contributions for online control and visuomotor adaptation of hand movements.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 1543-1560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Nickl ◽  
M. Mert Ankarali ◽  
Noah J. Cowan

Volitional rhythmic motor behaviors such as limb cycling and locomotion exhibit spatial and timing regularity. Such rhythmic movements are executed in the presence of exogenous visual and nonvisual cues, and previous studies have shown the pivotal role that vision plays in guiding spatial and temporal regulation. However, the influence of nonvisual information conveyed through auditory or touch sensory pathways, and its effect on control, remains poorly understood. To characterize the function of nonvisual feedback in rhythmic arm control, we designed a paddle juggling task in which volunteers bounced a ball off a rigid elastic surface to a target height in virtual reality by moving a physical handle with the right hand. Feedback was delivered at two key phases of movement: visual feedback at ball peaks only and simultaneous audio and haptic feedback at ball-paddle collisions. In contrast to previous work, we limited visual feedback to the minimum required for jugglers to assess spatial accuracy, and we independently perturbed the spatial dimensions and the timing of feedback. By separately perturbing this information, we evoked dissociable effects on spatial accuracy and timing, confirming that juggling, and potentially other rhythmic tasks, involves two complementary processes with distinct dynamics: spatial error correction and feedback timing synchronization. Moreover, we show evidence that audio and haptic feedback provide sufficient information for the brain to control the timing synchronization process by acting as a metronome-like cue that triggers hand movement. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Vision contains rich information for control of rhythmic arm movements; less is known, however, about the role of nonvisual feedback (touch and sound). Using a virtual ball bouncing task allowing independent real-time manipulation of spatial location and timing of cues, we show their dissociable roles in regulating motor behavior. We confirm that visual feedback is used to correct spatial error and provide new evidence that nonvisual event cues act to reset the timing of arm movements.


2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin C. Jackson ◽  
Kelly J. Ashford ◽  
Glen Norsworthy

Attentional processes governing skilled motor behavior were examined in two studies. In Experiment 1, field hockey players performed a dribbling task under single-task, dual-task, and skill-focused conditions under both low and high pressure situations. In Experiment 2, skilled soccer players performed a dribbling task under single-task, skill-focused, and process-goal conditions, again under low and high pressure situations. Results replicated recent findings regarding the detrimental effect of skill-focused attention and the facilitative effect of dual-task conditions on skilled performance. In addition, focusing on movement related process goals was found to adversely affect performance. Support for the predictive validity of the Reinvestment Scale was also found, with high reinvesters displaying greater susceptibility to skill failure under pressure. Results were consistent with explicit monitoring theories of choking and are further discussed in light of the conceptual distinction between explicit monitoring and reinvestment of conscious control.


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