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Controlling reaching movements during self-motion: body-fixed versus Earth-fixed targets
Etienne Guillaud1, Martin Simoneau, Gabriel Gauthier
1UMR Mouvement & Perception, CNRS et Universite de la Mediterranee, Marseille, France.
Motor Control
|February 13, 2007
Summary
Goal-directed arm movements during body motion are not fully automatic. Reaching accuracy for Earth-fixed targets decreased during rotation, indicating complex sensorimotor control processes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
- Human Movement Science
Background:
- Control of goal-directed arm movements during whole-body motion is not well understood.
- Compensatory arm movements during unexpected body motion may involve automatic sensorimotor processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if reaching for body-fixed or Earth-fixed targets during yaw rotation relies on automatic processes.
- To compare movement accuracy and cognitive interference for different target types during body rotation.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed reaching movements to memorized targets (body-fixed or Earth-fixed) in darkness.
- Participants underwent yaw rotation at reaching onset.
- A concurrent verbal reaction time task measured cognitive load.
Main Results:
- Reaction times increased during rotation, with no significant difference between target types.
- Reaching accuracy was significantly better for body-fixed targets compared to Earth-fixed targets.
- Control experiments indicated movement organization difficulties for Earth-fixed targets during rotation.
Conclusions:
- Reaching for Earth-fixed or body-fixed targets during body rotation is not a purely automatic process.
- Movement accuracy differences suggest distinct sensorimotor control strategies are employed based on target orientation relative to the body or external space.
