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Related Experiment Video

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An Emerging Target Paradigm to Evoke Fast Visuomotor Responses on Human Upper Limb Muscles

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Rapid Automatic Motor Encoding of Competing Reach Options.

Jason P Gallivan¹, Brandie M Stewart², Lee A Baugh³

¹Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada; Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada; Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada.

|February 16, 2017

Summary

The brain automatically prepares competing movements for multiple potential targets in parallel. This research shows visual targets are rapidly converted into motor representations, supporting action selection theories.

Keywords:

action decision making motor planning parallel encoding reaching sensorimotor visuomotor adaptation

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Motor Control
Decision Making

Background:

The brain prepares competing movements for multiple potential targets before selection.
This involves rapid, automatic transformation of visual targets into motor representations.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide direct evidence for the automatic motor encoding of competing visual targets.
To investigate how the brain represents potential actions prior to selection.

Main Methods:

Utilized target-specific, gradual visuomotor rotations.
Dissociated visual target direction from required movement direction without participant awareness.

Main Results:

Demonstrated that competing visual targets are automatically encoded into motor representations.
Provided empirical support for theories of parallel motor preparation.

Conclusions:

Competing action options are automatically represented by their required movements.
Rapid motor encoding aids in optimizing motor costs and informing target selection under uncertainty.