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Distinct mechanisms for planning keypress and reaching responses: a developmental study.
Jos J Adam1, Stijn Parthoens, Jay Pratt
1Department of Movement Sciences, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. jos.adam@bw.unimaas.nl
Human Movement Science
|May 3, 2006
Summary
Children and adults show different developmental trajectories in using precue information for keypress responses versus reaching movements. This highlights distinct planning mechanisms for indirect keypress and direct reaching actions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Motor Control
Background:
- Advance information (precueing) aids in planning future actions.
- The planning of indirect keypress responses may differ from direct reaching movements.
- Developmental changes in cognitive abilities impact motor planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in using precue information for action planning.
- To compare the planning mechanisms of keypress and reaching responses across development.
- To test the hypothesis of distinct neural systems for indirect and direct motor responses.
Main Methods:
- Spatial precuing task administered to four age groups (7, 9, 13, and 21 years).
- Two response modalities: keypress task (indirect) and reaching task (direct).
- Reaction time (RT) analysis to assess the use of precue information.
Main Results:
- Significant age differences observed in using precue information for the keypress task.
- No significant age differences found in using precue information for the reaching task.
- A dissociation in developmental effects between keypress and reaching response planning.
Conclusions:
- Developmental improvements in utilizing precue information are specific to indirect keypress responses.
- Direct reaching responses show less developmental modulation in utilizing precue information.
- Confirms the existence of separate mechanisms for planning indirect keypress and direct reaching actions.