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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Visual control of hand action.

S R Jackson, M Husain

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

|January 13, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Visual cues guide reaching movements, with attention shaping spatial representations. Neglect patients show distorted reaches due to impaired attention mechanisms.

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Last Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

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Published on: April 16, 2014

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Using Virtual Reality to Transfer Motor Skill Knowledge from One Hand to Another

Published on: September 18, 2017

Efficiently Recording the Eye-Hand Coordination to Incoordination Spectrum

Efficiently Recording the Eye-Hand Coordination to Incoordination Spectrum

Published on: March 21, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Visuomotor Control

Background:

Visual information is crucial for planning and guiding reaching movements.
Binocular cues and dynamic limb analysis aid movement control.
Perceived straight trajectories and target selection influence hand paths.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of visual information and attention in planning and guiding reaching movements.
To explore how attentional disorders, like visual neglect, affect visuomotor control.
To understand the spatial representations used for reach planning in normal and brain-damaged individuals.

Main Methods:

Analysis of reaching movements in normal individuals and patients with visual neglect.
Examination of the influence of binocular cues and dynamic visual feedback.
Investigating the impact of target selection and attentional mechanisms on hand trajectories.

Main Results:

Reaching movements are planned along perceived straight trajectories.
Attention dynamically sculpts spatial representations, selecting targets and inhibiting non-targets.
Visual neglect patients exhibit more curved reaches, suggesting distorted spatial representations.

Conclusions:

Dynamic spatial representations, modulated by attention, are essential for accurate reach planning.
Impaired attentional mechanisms in visual neglect lead to significant visuomotor deficits in reaching.
Understanding these mechanisms is key to addressing attentional disorders affecting motor control.