The gravitational imprint on sensorimotor planning and control.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomechanics
• Human motor control

Background:

• Humans exhibit remarkable motor skill acquisition, even in elite performers, often defying biomechanical limits.
• Sensorimotor learning and control are significantly influenced by gravitational forces acting on the body.
• Accurate internal body representations and efficient movement control rely on sensing and anticipating gravity's effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing research on perception and sensorimotor control under normal and altered gravity conditions.
• To investigate how the nervous system adapts to gravitational forces during motor tasks.
• To understand the brain's internal representation of gravity and its adaptability.

Main Methods:

• Review of behavioral and modeling studies on human sensorimotor adaptation.
• Analysis of experiments involving exposure to altered gravitational environments.
• Synthesis of findings related to perception and motor control in varying gravity.

Main Results:

• The nervous system employs effective strategies to leverage gravitational forces in diverse tasks.
• Adaptation to altered gravity shows significant variability across studies, sometimes resulting in incomplete adjustments.
• Evidence suggests the brain utilizes a multimodal and adaptable representation of gravity's influence on the body.

Conclusions:

• The brain's representation of gravity's effect on body and movement is multimodal and flexible.
• Further research is needed to fully understand the nature of this internal representation and its adaptive capacity.
• Understanding gravity's role is crucial for advancing sensorimotor control theories and applications.