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Published on: August 25, 2020
Response delay and spatial representation in pointing movements.
Laurette Hay1, Christine Redon
1UMR 6149 CNRS-Université de Provence, Pôle 3 C-Case B, 3 Place Victor Hugo, 13331 Marseille Cedex 03, France. laurette.hay@up.univ-mrs.fr
Neuroscience Letters
|October 10, 2006
Summary
Pointing accuracy decreases with delays when targets are in darkness. A visual background improves pointing accuracy and reduces delay effects, suggesting different spatial representations for immediate versus delayed actions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Human Motor Control
- Perception
Background:
- Pointing movements require accurate spatial representation of target locations.
- Spatial representations can be egocentric (body-centered) or exocentric (world-centered).
- Visual context influences the type of spatial representation used.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how target removal delay affects pointing accuracy.
- To examine the role of visual environment (darkness vs. visual background) in spatial representation.
- To differentiate between egocentric and exocentric spatial representations in pointing tasks.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed pointing movements without visual feedback after target removal.
- Two delay conditions (0-s and 5-s) were tested.
- Targets were presented either in darkness (egocentric) or with a visual background (exocentric).
Main Results:
- Pointing accuracy was higher with a visual background compared to darkness.
- Accuracy decreased over time (delay) in darkness, but not with a visual background.
- The visual environment modulated the impact of delay on pointing performance.
Conclusions:
- Pointing accuracy depends on the spatial representation strategy employed.
- Darkness favors a short-lived, egocentric representation for immediate actions.
- A visual background supports a long-lived, exocentric representation for delayed actions.
