Infographic: Fifteen years of Brazilian Journal of Motor Behavior

The Brazilian Journal of Motor Behavior (BJMB) is a quadriannual, peer-reviewed, free of charge/fee and open-access journal published by the Brazilian Society of Motor Behavior (SOCIBRACOM). The BJMB has published original contributions within the multidisciplinary study of human motor behavior, in the broad scope of motor control, development and learning, movement disorders, sports, clinical, theoretical and model studies. Since 2019 the BJMBpublishes manuscripts only in English. In the same year, BJMB started to invite researchers to be guest editors in article collections, providing an excellent opportunity to promote high-quality contents within the field. The BJMB is the main motor behavior journal in the Latin American. It is widely recognized for its significant academic contribution and indexed in the UlrichsWeb Global Serial Directory, Diadorium, Gale Directory Library, Google Scholar, Road Directory of Open Access Scholary resources and Red Iberoamericana de Innovación y Conocimiento Científico. The number of edition and papers has sustainable and significantly increased in the last years, with over 500 authors contributing with 121 manuscripts, distributed in 40 numbers. The time of peer-reviewed process is short (first revision- 26 days) and paper publication is quick (57 days). The BJMB was launched with its first edition published in December of 2006 and, thus, we are celebrating its 15thanniversary. For that, the BJMB launches a new type of manuscript: INFOGRAPHIC. This initiative aims to provide a quick, easy-to-use and enjoyable publication that conveys notable knowledge. Two types of infographics will be publishable: a) theory perspective: visual material to theory acknowledge to facilitate the understanding of models, theory frameworks, concepts, principles, and approaches in the field; b) article infographic: visual material about interventional effects on motor learning, development and control sustained by reviews and/or meta-analysis. The infographic section will be added to those already existing: research, systematic review and meta-analysis, mini review, scoping review, research notes, current opinion, critique, and tutorials. It is interesting to highlight the section about tutorial, which emphasizes and provides reflection on the use of one or several methods or self-instruction in motor behavior. Finally, the current opinion section publishes pieces of diverse authors around the world that provide perspectives on a hot, relevant, and perhaps controversial topic within the scope of BJMB. We would like to congratulate all for this important occasion and to wish that the BJMB continues publishing impactful and relevant contributions in the motor behavior field still for many years to come.

An internal model approach for motor behavior

Interacting with the environment requires a remarkable ability to control, learn, and adapt motor skills to ever-changing conditions. The intriguing complexity involved in the process of controlling, learning, and adapting motor skills has led to the development of many theoretical approaches to explain and investigate motor behavior. This paper will present a theoretical approach built upon the top-down mode of motor control that shows substantial internal coherence and has a large and growing body of empirical evidence: The Internal Models. The Internal Models are representations of the external world within the CNS, which learn to predict this external world, simulate behaviors based on sensory inputs, and transform these predictions into motor actions. We present the Internal Models’ background based on two main structures, Inverse and Forward models, explain how they work, and present some applicability.

A brief review on motor development: fundamental motor skills as a basis for motor skill learning

In this study, we review the relationship between motor development and motor learning, and present a new metaphor that represents the sequence of motor development, which highlights fundamental motor skills as an important phase in the process. As one of the most relevant phases of motor development, several studies that analyzed fundamental motor skills were reviewed in typical developing children as well as in children with disabilities. Most studies revealed motor performance levels below expected since proficiency was not observed. We discuss these results considering fundamental motor skills as essential for the motor development process. Such results raise the awareness of the need to offer children conditions to explore and experience motor activities in order to enhance motor competence.

Mini-Review: practice organization beyond memory processes

Background: The benefits of variable practice in motor learning have been traditionally explained by the increased demand for memory processes induced by trial-to-trial changes. Recently, a new perspective associating increased demand for perception with variable practice has emerged. Aim: This revision aims to present and discuss the findings in this exciting topic newly opened. Results / Interpretation: In the second half of 2010’s, a number of studies have pointed out differences in perceptual processing when compared variable and repetitive practices. Different levels of (a) hemodynamic activation, (b) electroencephalographic activity, (c) neurochemical activity, and (d) oculomotor behavior have provided evidence that perceptual processes are affected differently by variable and repetitive practices.

Falls and motor behavior in older adults

This mini-review focuses on intrinsic risk factors for falls, particularly the changes in motor behavior of faller older adults. Our purpose is to present evidence that faller older adults exhibit motor behavior changes beyond the typically investigated standing and walking tasks. We showed initially that postural control alterations with more prominent differences for fallers than non-fallers seem to depend on postural demands, availability of sensory information, and tasks performed concomitantly with the balancing task. We also provided evidence that walking speed is the most consistent aspect to differentiate fallers from non-fallers. This reduction in walking speed may be a strategy to improve gait stability to avoid a fall. More recent studies have shown that fallers presented modifications in the control of the prehension movement. These changes suggest that fallers have changes in movement categories other than balancing and walking, suggesting that fallers’ difficulties are broader than previously thought. The fact that faller older adults have modifications in the control of upper and lower limbs is indicative of a change in motor behavior involving gross and fine motor behaviors. The understanding of a faller as an individual with global changes in motor behavior has important implications for fall prevention and rehabilitation programs for these individuals.

Motor development: from dynamical system approach to a neo-developmental application

The aim of this study was to present a dynamical view of motor development and a few factors affecting the developmental course and rate of motor changes. The acquisition of motor skills involves one’s exploration of many body segmental configurations, followed by the selection of those that are most useful to achieve the task demands. Exploration and selection are attained through searching and the evolution and dissolution of the stable dynamical regions of coordination modes for a given task. Development then involves an interaction between the learner and environment, dissolving relatively successful dynamics in search of even more rewarding dynamics for the new task, based upon repetitive perception-action cycles. Developmental changes can occur naturally, but can also be deterministically influenced by, for example, teachers enhancing the probability of systematic change in performance over time. This influence can be through the planned introduction of interventions and providing information that drives the learner to transition to stable modes of performance and search for new body configuration dynamics required for the new task. Teachers play an important role in guiding learners through this complex developmental journey.

Contributions of Motor Behavior to Physical Education: what has changed in the last 15 years?

This article aimed to continue with the reflections on the relationship between Motor Behavior as a field of investigation and Physical Education as an area of knowledge, seeking to analyze what changes have occurred in the last 15 years, regarding the challenges and suggestions formulated in an article that I have published in the Brazilian Journal of Motor Behavior’s first issue, in 2006. The analyzes carried out that were based on data extracted from publications throughout this period allow us to conclude that the picture has not had significant changes, particularly concerning the contribution of Motor Behavior researchers to a better definition of the academic identity of Physical Education, which is necessary for the proper contextualization of researches performed on motor behavior in the field. The results show the researchers' lack of interest in discussing more macroscopic themes of epistemological nature, concentrating on the publication of articles to increase their scientific productivity.