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The coordination of movement: optimal feedback control and beyond.
Jörn Diedrichsen1, Reza Shadmehr, Richard B Ivry
1Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Alexandra House, 17 Queens Square, London, UK. j.diedrichsen@ucl.ac.uk <j.diedrichsen@ucl.ac.uk>
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|December 17, 2009
Summary
Optimal control theory explains movement coordination by predicting how work is distributed across effectors. Optimal feedback control theory further refines these predictions for complex motor control and neural mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Motor control
- Computational neuroscience
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Optimal control theory (OCT) and optimal feedback control theory (OFCT) offer frameworks for understanding movement control.
- These theories provide insights into flexible and task-dependent motor behavior.
- Coordination, involving multiple effectors like muscles or limbs, is a key area of study.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how optimal control theories predict work distribution across multiple effectors during coordinated movements.
- To examine the predictions of optimal feedback control theory regarding variations in feedback control based on task demands and effector correlations.
- To identify key research areas for advancing optimal feedback control theory in characterizing movement coordination and its neural basis.
Main Methods:
- Quantitative predictions from optimal control theory regarding work distribution.
- Analysis of optimal feedback control theory predictions on feedback control variations.
- Review of existing literature on hierarchical control and movement initiation.
Main Results:
- Optimal control theory quantitatively predicts work distribution across effectors in coordinated movements.
- Optimal feedback control theory predicts how feedback control adapts to task demands and effector correlations.
- Hierarchical control and movement initiation require further development within the OFCT framework.
Conclusions:
- Optimal control theories provide valuable insights into movement coordination.
- Further development in hierarchical control and movement initiation is needed for a comprehensive optimal feedback control theory framework.
- This framework can serve as a basis for studying the neural mechanisms of voluntary motor control.
Related Concept Videos
01:10Control Systems
Control systems are everywhere in contemporary society, influencing diverse applications from aerospace to automated manufacturing. These systems can be found naturally within biological processes, such as blood sugar regulation and heart rate adjustment in response to stress, as well as in man-made systems like elevators and automated vehicles. A control system is essentially a network of subsystems and processes that collaboratively convert specific inputs into desired outputs.
At the heart...
At the heart...
01:24Effects of feedback
Feedback in control systems plays a critical role in shaping various operational parameters, extending beyond simple error reduction to influence stability, bandwidth, gain, impedance, and sensitivity. Understanding these effects requires examining a basic feedback system characterized by defined input, output, error, and feedback signals.
Feedback significantly modifies the gain of a control system. The gain of a system without feedback is altered by a factor of one plus GH, where G represents...
Feedback significantly modifies the gain of a control system. The gain of a system without feedback is altered by a factor of one plus GH, where G represents...
01:18Hierarchy of Motor Control
The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.
01:26Feedback control systems
Feedback control systems are categorized in various ways based on their design, analysis, and signal types.
Linear feedback systems are theoretical models that simplify analysis and design. These systems operate under the principle that their output is directly proportional to their input within certain ranges. For instance, an amplifier in a control system behaves linearly as long as the input signal remains within a specific range. However, most physical systems exhibit inherent nonlinearity...
Linear feedback systems are theoretical models that simplify analysis and design. These systems operate under the principle that their output is directly proportional to their input within certain ranges. For instance, an amplifier in a control system behaves linearly as long as the input signal remains within a specific range. However, most physical systems exhibit inherent nonlinearity...
01:24Muscle Coordination and Action
Muscle coordination is a complex and finely tuned process essential for smooth and purposeful movements like flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, and rotation. The human body orchestrates the actions of various muscles working in concert, each with a specific role. Four functional types describe how muscles work together: agonist, antagonist, synergist, and fixator.
Agonists
Agonist muscles, often called prime movers, are the primary muscles responsible for producing a specific movement.
Agonists
Agonist muscles, often called prime movers, are the primary muscles responsible for producing a specific movement.
01:22Controller Configurations
Controller configurations are crucial in a car's cruise control system because they manage speed over time to maintain a consistent pace regardless of road conditions, thereby meeting design goals. In traditional control systems, fixed-configuration design involves predetermined controller placement. System performance modifications are known as compensation.
Control-system compensation involves various configurations, most commonly series or cascade compensation, in which the controller aligns...
Control-system compensation involves various configurations, most commonly series or cascade compensation, in which the controller aligns...