Interaction of Visual and Proprioceptive Feedback During Adaptation of Human Reaching Movements

People tend to make straight and smooth hand movements when reaching for an object. These trajectory features are resistant to perturbation, and both proprioceptive as well as visual feedback may guide the adaptive updating of motor commands enforcing this regularity. How is information from the two senses combined to generate a coherent internal representation of how the arm moves? Here we show that eliminating visual feedback of hand-path deviations from the straight-line reach (constraining visual feedback of motion within a virtual, “visual channel”) prevents compensation of initial direction errors induced by perturbations. Because adaptive reduction in direction errors occurred with proprioception alone, proprioceptive and visual information are not combined in this reaching task using a fixed, linear weighting scheme as reported for static tasks not requiring arm motion. A computer model can explain these findings, assuming that proprioceptive estimates of initial limb posture are used to select motor commands for a desired reach and visual feedback of hand-path errors brings proprioceptive estimates into registration with a visuocentric representation of limb position relative to its target. Simulations demonstrate that initial configuration estimation errors lead to movement direction errors as observed experimentally. Registration improves movement accuracy when veridical visual feedback is provided but is not invoked when hand-path errors are eliminated. However, the visual channel did not exclude adjustment of terminal movement features maximizing hand-path smoothness. Thus visual and proprioceptive feedback may be combined in fundamentally different ways during trajectory control and final position regulation of reaching movements.

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Visuomotor Adaptation Does Not Recalibrate Kinesthetic Sense of Felt Hand Path

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.90544.2008 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 101 (2) ◽

pp. 614-623 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Teser Wong ◽

Denise Y. P. Henriques

Keyword(s):

Visual Feedback ◽

Visual Information ◽

Body Position ◽

Sensory Modality ◽

Visuomotor Adaptation ◽

Hand Movements ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Hand Motion ◽

Hand Path ◽

Kinesthetic Sense

Motor control relies on multiple sources of information. To estimate the position and motion of the hand, the brain uses both vision and body-position (proprioception and kinesthesia) senses from sensors in the muscles, tendons, joints, and skin. Although performance is better when more than one sensory modality is present, visuomotor adaptation suggests that people tend to rely much more on visual information of the hand to guide their arm movements to targets, even when the visual information and kinesthetic information about the hand motion are in conflict. The aim of this study is to test whether adapting hand movements in response to false visual feedback of the hand will result in the change or recalibration of the kinesthetic sense of hand motion. The advantage of this cross-sensory recalibration would ensure on-line consistency between the senses. To test this, we mapped participants' sensitivity to tilted and curved hand paths and then examined whether adapting their hand movements in response to false visual feedback affected their felt sense of hand path. We found that participants could accurately estimate hand path directions and curvature after adapting to false visual feedback of their hand when reaching to targets. Our results suggest that although vision can override kinesthesia to recalibrate arm motor commands, it does not recalibrate the kinesthetic sense of hand path geometry.

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Postural effects on arm movement variability are idiosyncratic and feedback-dependent

10.1101/2020.12.23.424234 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Preyaporn Phataraphruk ◽

Qasim Rahman ◽

Kishor Lakshminarayanan ◽

Mitchell Fruchtman ◽

Christopher A. Buneo

Keyword(s):

Visual Feedback ◽

Hand Movement ◽

Frontal Plane ◽

Arm Movement ◽

Reaching Movements ◽

Movement Direction ◽

Movement Variability ◽

Postural Effects ◽

3D Space

AbstractReaching movements are subject to noise arising during the sensing, planning and execution phases of movement production, which contributes to movement variability. When vision of the moving hand is available, reaching variability appears to be strongly influenced by noise occurring during the specification and/or online updating of movement plans in visual coordinates. In contrast, when vision of the hand is unavailable, variability appears more dependent upon hand movement direction, suggesting a greater influence of execution noise. Given that execution noise acts in part at the muscular level, we hypothesized that reaching variability should depend not only on movement direction but initial arm posture as well. Moreover, given that the effects of execution noise are more apparent when movements are performed without vision of the hand, we reasoned that postural effects would be more evident when visual feedback was withheld. To test these hypotheses, subjects planned memory-guided reaching movements to three frontal plane targets, using either an “adducted” or “abducted” initial arm posture. Movements were then executed with and without hand vision. We found that the effects of initial arm posture on movement variability were idiosyncratic in both visual feedback conditions. In addition, without visual feedback, posture-dependent differences in variability varied with movement extent, growing abruptly larger in magnitude during the terminal phases of movement, and were moderately correlated with differences in mean endpoint positions. The results emphasize the role of factors other than noise (i.e. biomechanics and suboptimal sensorimotor integration) in constraining patterns of movement variability in 3D space.

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Impairments of reaching movements in patients without proprioception. I. Spatial errors

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1995.73.1.347 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 73 (1) ◽

pp. 347-360 ◽

Cited By ~ 194

Author(s):

J. Gordon ◽

M. F. Ghilardi ◽

C. Ghez

Keyword(s):

Visual Feedback ◽

Movement Time ◽

Hand Movement ◽

Sensory Neuropathy ◽

Position Sense ◽

Reaching Movements ◽

Movement Direction ◽

Hand Position ◽

Control Subjects ◽

Errors Analysis

1. This paper introduces a series of studies in which we analyze the impairments in a planar reaching task in human patients with severe proprioceptive deficits resulting from large-fiber sensory neuropathy. We studied three patients, all of whom showed absence of discriminative tactile sensation, position sense, and stretch reflexes in the upper extremities. Muscle strength was normal. We compared the reaching movements of the patients with those of normal control subjects. The purpose of this first paper was no characterize the spatial errors in these patients that result primarily from impairments in the planning and execution of movement rather than in feedback control. This was done by using a task in which visual feedback of errors during movement was prevented. 2. Subjects were instructed to move their hand from given starting positions of different targets on a horizontal digitizing tablet. Hand position and targets were displayed on a computer screen. Subjects could not see their hand, and the screen display of hand position was blanked at the signal to move. Thus visual feedback during movement could not be used to achieve accuracy. Movement paths were displayed as knowledge of results after each trial. 3. Compared with controls, the patients made large spatial errors in both movement direction and extent. Directional errors were evident from movement onset, suggesting that they resulted from improper planning. In addition, patients' hand paths showed large curves and secondary movements after initial stops. 4. The overall control strategy used by patients appeared the same as that used by controls. Hand trajectories were approximately bell shaped, and movement extent was controlled by scaling a trajectory waveform in amplitude and time. However, both control subjects and patients showed systematic errors in movement extent that depended on the direction of hand movement. In control subjects, these systematic dependencies of extent on direction were small, but in patients they produced large and prominent errors. Analysis of the hand trajectories revealed that errors were associated with differences in velocity and acceleration for movements in different directions. In an earlier study, we showed that in subjects with normal sensation that the dependence of acceleration and velocity on direction results from a failure to take the inertial properties of the limb into account in programming the initial trajectory. In control subjects, these differences in initial acceleration are partially compensated by direction-dependent variations in movement time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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Visuomotor adaptation in Parkinson's disease: effects of perturbation type and medication state

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00095.2013 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 111 (12) ◽

pp. 2675-2687 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Jennifer A. Semrau ◽

Joel S. Perlmutter ◽

Kurt A. Thoroughman

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Visual Feedback ◽

Visual Information ◽

Visuomotor Adaptation ◽

Visual Direction ◽

Movement Direction ◽

Visual Gain ◽

Control Subjects ◽

Complete Adaptation

To perform simple everyday tasks, we use visual feedback from our external environment to generate and guide movements. However, tasks like reaching for a cup may become extremely difficult in movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD), and it is unknown whether PD patients use visual information to compensate for motor deficiencies. We tested adaptation to changes in visual feedback of the hand in three subject groups, PD patients on daily levodopa (l-dopa) therapy (PD ON), PD patients off l-dopa (PD OFF), and age-matched control subjects, to determine the effects of PD on the visual control of movement. Subjects were tested on two classes of visual perturbations, one that altered visual direction of movement and one that altered visual extent of movement, allowing us to test adaptive sensitivity to changes in both movement direction (visual rotations) and extent (visual gain). The PD OFF group displayed more complete adaptation to visuomotor rotations compared with control subjects but initial, transient difficulty with adaptation to visual gain perturbations. The PD ON group displayed feedback control more sensitive to visual error compared with control subjects but compared with the PD OFF group had mild impairments during adaptation to changes in visual extent. We conclude that PD subjects can adapt to changes in visual information but that l-dopa may impair visual-based motor adaptation.

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Feedback Modalities in Brain–Computer Interfaces: A Systematic Review

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1071181320641283 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 1186-1190

Author(s):

Wakana Ishihara ◽

Karen Moxon ◽

Sheryl Ehrman ◽

Mark Yarborough ◽

Tina L. Panontin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Visual Feedback ◽

Auditory Feedback ◽

Brain Computer Interface ◽

Tactile Feedback ◽

Proprioceptive Feedback ◽

Computer Interface ◽

Computer Interfaces ◽

Feedback Modalities ◽

Improving Accuracy

This systematic review addresses the plausibility of using novel feedback modalities for brain–computer interface (BCI) and attempts to identify the best feedback modality on the basis of the effectiveness or learning rate. Out of the chosen studies, it was found that 100% of studies tested visual feedback, 31.6% tested auditory feedback, 57.9% tested tactile feedback, and 21.1% tested proprioceptive feedback. Visual feedback was included in every study design because it was intrinsic to the response of the task (e.g. seeing a cursor move). However, when used alone, it was not very effective at improving accuracy or learning. Proprioceptive feedback was most successful at increasing the effectiveness of motor imagery BCI tasks involving neuroprosthetics. The use of auditory and tactile feedback resulted in mixed results. The limitations of this current study and further study recommendations are discussed.

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Intermittency in the Control of Continuous Force Production

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.2000.84.4.1708 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 84 (4) ◽

pp. 1708-1718 ◽

Cited By ~ 203

Author(s):

Andrew B. Slifkin ◽

David E. Vaillancourt ◽

Karl M. Newell

Keyword(s):

Visual Feedback ◽

Visual Information ◽

Spectral Power ◽

Force Production ◽

Motor Output ◽

Force Variability ◽

Force Output ◽

Feedback Information ◽

Information Processes ◽

Feedback Frequency

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the influence of intermittency in visual information processes on intermittency in the control continuous force production. Adult human participants were required to maintain force at, and minimize variability around, a force target over an extended duration (15 s), while the intermittency of on-line visual feedback presentation was varied across conditions. This was accomplished by varying the frequency of successive force-feedback deliveries presented on a video display. As a function of a 128-fold increase in feedback frequency (0.2 to 25.6 Hz), performance quality improved according to hyperbolic functions (e.g., force variability decayed), reaching asymptotic values near the 6.4-Hz feedback frequency level. Thus, the briefest interval over which visual information could be integrated and used to correct errors in motor output was approximately 150 ms. The observed reductions in force variability were correlated with parallel declines in spectral power at about 1 Hz in the frequency profile of force output. In contrast, power at higher frequencies in the force output spectrum were uncorrelated with increases in feedback frequency. Thus, there was a considerable lag between the generation of motor output corrections (1 Hz) and the processing of visual feedback information (6.4 Hz). To reconcile these differences in visual and motor processing times, we proposed a model where error information is accumulated by visual information processes at a maximum frequency of 6.4 per second, and the motor system generates a correction on the basis of the accumulated information at the end of each 1-s interval.

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Reproduction of Object Shape is More Accurate without the Continued Availability of Visual Information

Perception ◽

10.1068/p270069 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 69-86 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Michel-Ange Amorim ◽

Jack M Loomis ◽

Sergio S Fukusima

Keyword(s):

Visual Information ◽

Internal Representation ◽

Stimulus Configuration ◽

The Other ◽

Additional Information ◽

Distant Stimulus ◽

Perspective Change ◽

Visual Presence ◽

Viewpoint Change ◽

Actual Change

An unfamiliar configuration lying in depth and viewed from a distance is typically seen as foreshortened. The hypothesis motivating this research was that a change in an observer's viewpoint even when the configuration is no longer visible induces an imaginal updating of the internal representation and thus reduces the degree of foreshortening. In experiment 1, observers attempted to reproduce configurations defined by three small glowing balls on a table 2 m distant under conditions of darkness following ‘viewpoint change’ instructions. In one condition, observers reproduced the continuously visible configuration using three other glowing balls on a nearer table while imagining standing at the distant table. In the other condition, observers viewed the configuration, it was then removed, and they walked in darkness to the far table and reproduced the configuration. Even though the observers received no additional information about the stimulus configuration in walking to the table, they were more accurate (less foreshortening) than in the other condition. In experiment 2, observers reproduced distant configurations on a nearer table more accurately when doing so from memory than when doing so while viewing the distant stimulus configuration. In experiment 3, observers performed both the real and imagined perspective change after memorizing the remote configuration. The results of the three experiments indicate that the continued visual presence of the target configuration impedes imaginary perspective-change performance and that an actual change in viewpoint does not increase reproduction accuracy substantially over that obtained with an imagined change in viewpoint.

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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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Changes in motor cortex activity during reaching movements with similar hand paths but different arm postures

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1995.73.6.2563 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 73 (6) ◽

pp. 2563-2567 ◽

Cited By ~ 107

Author(s):

S. H. Scott ◽

J. F. Kalaska

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Sagittal Plane ◽

Single Cells ◽

Reaching Movements ◽

Movement Direction ◽

Tonic Activity ◽

Population Vector ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Direction Of Movement ◽

Kinematics And Kinetics

1. Neuronal activity was recorded in the motor cortex of a monkey that performed reaching movements with the use of two different arm postures. In the first posture (control), the monkey used its natural arm orientation, approximately in the sagittal plane. In the second posture (abducted), the monkey had to adduct its elbow nearly to shoulder level to grasp the handle. The path of the hand between targets was similar in both arm postures, but the joint kinematics and kinetics were different. 2. In both postures, the activity of single cells was often broadly tuned with movement direction and static arm posture over the targets. In a large proportion of cells, either the level of tonic activity, the directional tuning, or both, varied between the two postures during the movement and target hold periods. 3. For most directions of movement, there was a statistically significant difference in the direction of the population vector for the two arm postures. Furthermore, whereas the population vector tended to point in the direction of movement for the control posture, there was a poorer correspondence between the direction of movement and the population vector for the abducted posture. These observed changes are inconsistent with the notion that the motor cortex encodes purely hand trajectory in space.

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Use of visual feedback for balance training in hemiparetic Stroke patients

Fisioterapia em Movimento ◽

10.1590/0103-5150.028.002.ao04 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 241-249

Author(s):

Fabiane Maria Klitzke dos Santos ◽

Franciely Voltolini Mendes ◽

Simone Suzuki Woellner ◽

Noé Gomes Borges Júnior ◽

Antonio Vinicius Soares

Keyword(s):

Visual Feedback ◽

Visual Information ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Balance Training ◽

Berg Balance Scale ◽

Functional Mobility ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Intergroup Comparison ◽

Hemiparetic Stroke ◽

Balance Board

Introduction Hemiparetic Stroke patients have their daily activities affected by the balance impairment. Techniques that used visual information for training this impairment it seems to be effective. Objective To analyze the effects of the unstable balance board training and compare two ways of visual feedback: the biomechanical instrumentation and the mirror. Materials and methods Eight chronic hemiparetic Stroke patients participated in the research, randomized in two groups. The first group (G1) accomplished the training with biomechanical instrumentation, and the second group (G2) trained in front of the mirror. Sixteen training sessions were done with feet together, and feet apart. The evaluation instruments that were used before and after the period of training were the Time Up and Go Test (TUGT), Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the Instrumented Balance Board (IBB), that quantified the functional mobility, the balance and the posture control respectively. Results The TUGT showed significant results (p < 0.05) favorable to G1. Despite the results of BBS were significant for G2, the intergroup comparison did not reveal statistical significance. Both groups obtained decrease in levels of IBB oscillation, what can indicate a higher stability, however the results did not indicate statistical significance (p > 0.05). A strong correlation between all the applied tests was observed in this research. Conclusion Although the advantages found were different between the groups, in both it could be observed that the training brought benefits, with the transference to the functional mobility.

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