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Related Experiment Videos

Sinusoidal visuomotor tracking: intermittent servo-control or coupled oscillations?

D M Russell1, D Sternad

  • 1Department of Kinesiology, Berks-Lehigh Valley College of The Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA.

Journal of Motor Behavior
|December 6, 2001
PubMed
Summary

Human motor control is intermittent, suggesting either feedback error corrections or rhythmic entrainment. This study investigated visuomanual tracking, finding that movement intermittency depends on target frequency and effector properties, supporting entrainment in certain conditions.

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Area of Science:

  • Motor control
  • Human movement science
  • Visuomotor neuroscience

Background:

  • Visuomotor tasks with accuracy demands often show trajectory changes interpreted as feedback-based error corrections.
  • Movement intermittency in human motor control has been hypothesized to reflect either intermittent servo-control or rhythmic entrainment dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the nature of intermittency in visuomanual tracking of sinusoidal targets.
  • To re-examine the hypothesis that humans act as intermittent servo-controllers.
  • To evaluate the alternative hypothesis that rhythmic tracking movements arise from entrainment between target and actor oscillations.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments involved participants tracking sinusoidal targets with hand-held pendulums.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Kinematic error measures and spectral analysis were used to test the intermittency hypothesis.
  • Relative phase and its variability were analyzed to examine entrainment dynamics.

    • Main Results:

    • Visually guided corrective processes influence movement, particularly at slower speeds.
    • Movement intermittency varied with target frequency and manipulandum inertia.
    • Entrainment was supported when task frequency matched or exceeded the effector's eigenfrequency.

    Conclusions:

    • The findings suggest that visually guided corrections are involved in visuomotor tasks.
    • Movement intermittency is influenced by the interplay between task demands and effector characteristics.
    • The dominant behavioral regime (intermittent control vs. entrainment) is determined by the symmetry between the task and the effector.