Diffusive, Synaptic, and Synergetic Coupling: An Evaluation Through In-Phase and Antiphase Rhythmic Movements

The in-phase and antiphase patterns of interlimb l:1 frequency locking were contrasted with respect to models of coordination dynamics in biological movement systems that are based on diffusive coupling, synaptic coupling, and synergetic principles. Predictions were made from each model concerning the stable relative phase phi between the rhythmic units, its standard deviation SDphi and the self-chosen coupled frequency omegasubc;. The experimental task involved human subjects oscillating two handheld pendulums either in-phase or antiphase. The eigenfrequencies of the two hand-pendulum systems were manipulated by varying the length and mass of each pendulum individually. Relative to an eigenfrequency difference of Delta equal to zero, |Deltaomega| > 0 displaced phi from phi = 0 and phi = pi, and amplified SDphi. omegasubc; decreased with |Deltaomega|. Both the displacement of phi and SDphi were greater in the antiphase mode. Additionally, the displacement of phi increased more sharply with |Delta| for antiphase than for in-phase coordination. In contrast, omegasubc; was identical for the two coordination modes. Of the models of interlimb coordination dynamics, the synergetic model was the most successful in addressing the pattern of dependencies of phi and SDphi. The specific forms of the functions relating omegasubc; and phi to Deltaomega pose challenges for all three models, however