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Related Experiment Videos

Multiple frames of reference for pointing to a remembered target.

Martin Lemay¹, George E Stelmach

¹Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Université du Québec à Montréal, 8888, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3P8. c3172@er.uqam.ca

Experimental Brain Research

|March 23, 2005

Summary

This study reveals how the brain remembers target locations for pointing movements. Arm-centered memory guides movement direction, while eye-centered memory influences movement amplitude.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Human Perception

Background:

Accurate pointing requires remembering target locations.
Memory representations can be eye-centered or body-centered.
Understanding reference frames is crucial for motor control.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate if target locations are stored in eye-centered, hand-centered, or both frames of reference.
Examine how memory representations are disrupted by movement during recall.
Differentiate the roles of reference frames in movement direction and amplitude.

Main Methods:

Participants pointed to a remembered target in darkness with no visual feedback of their hand.
During recall delay, participants moved their hand or eyes to disrupt memory.

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Variability in movement amplitude and direction was analyzed.

Main Results:

Hand movement during recall increased directional variability.
Eye movement during recall increased amplitude variability.
Suggests distinct reference frames for direction and amplitude.

Conclusions:

Movement direction is coded in an arm-centered reference frame.
Movement amplitude is coded in an eye-centered reference frame.
The brain utilizes multiple reference frames for accurate motor execution.