Pointing to a target from an upright position in human: tuning of postural responses when there is target uncertainty

Human subjects performed, from a standing position, rapid hand pointings to visual targets located within or beyond the prehension space. To examine the interaction between posture and the goal-directed movement we introduced a visual double-step perturbation requiring a reprogramming of the hand movement. Trials directed towards the same spatial goal but differentiated only by the likeliness of a visual double-step were compared. The hand kinematics was not affected by the uncertainty of the visual perturbation; an increased trunk bending, however, was observed. This suggests that uncertainty constraints are integrated in a predictive manner for the optimal coordination of the hand and postural control systems.