Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026
Virtual Prism Adaptation Therapy: Protocol for Validation in Healthy Adults
Published on: February 12, 2020
Kinematic markers dissociate error correction from sensorimotor realignment during prism adaptation
Jacinta O'Shea1, Valérie Gaveau2, Matthieu Kandel2
1Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, ImpAct (Integrative, Multisensory, Perception, Action & Cognition) Team, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, University of Lyon 1, 69500 Bron, France; Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
Healthy individuals adapt pointing movements using distinct rapid strategic adjustments and slower sensorimotor realignment processes. These mechanisms, identified through kinematic analysis during prism exposure, reveal how the brain compensates for optical shifts.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
- Human Movement Science
Background:
- Prism adaptation studies distinguish strategic motor adjustments from sensorimotor realignment.
- Strategic adjustments rapidly correct endpoint errors early in prism exposure.
- Sensorimotor realignment, measured post-exposure, reveals prism after-effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate kinematic signatures of strategic adjustments and sensorimotor realignment.
- To test if feedforward and feedback error correction map to distinct reach trajectory phases.
- To investigate the temporal dynamics of motor compensation during prism exposure.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of kinematic changes during pointing movements under prism exposure.
- Distinguishing between rapid endpoint error correction and slower terminal phase adaptation.
- Correlating individual differences in adaptation with prism after-effect magnitude.
Main Results:
- Rapid error reduction in early prism exposure resulted from trial-by-trial motor plan adjustments.
- Slower sensorimotor realignment occurred during the terminal (deceleration) phase of the reach.
- Adaptation remained incomplete after 100 trials, with residual endpoint and terminal phase shifts.
Conclusions:
- Distinct kinematic patterns identify fast strategic and slow sensorimotor realignment processes.
- These processes combine to enable motor performance adaptation to optical shifts.
- Individual differences in adaptation predict the magnitude of prism after-effects.
