Embodied skillful performance: where the action is.

Area of Science:

• Motor control theory
• Computational neuroscience
• Cognitive science

Background:

• Contemporary motor control models, particularly Optimal Motor Control Theory (OMCT), view skillful performance as an instruction-driven process.
• These instructionist models posit that actions are executed based on internal motor commands derived from knowledge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically examine the limitations of instructionist approaches in explaining skillful motor performance.
• To question the fundamental assumptions of control-theoretic models in motor control.
• To explore alternative frameworks that may better account for the nature of skilled actions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the instructionist assumption in motor control theory.
• Examination of how motor representations are implemented as motor commands, referencing OMCT.
• Review of predictive coding and active inference frameworks as distinct from OMCT.

Main Results:

• Instructionist models, like OMCT, face limitations in fully explaining the seamless nature of skillful performance.
• The execution of explicit instructions may not be the sole or primary mechanism underlying skilled actions.
• Active inference frameworks provide a distinct perspective that challenges traditional control-theoretic assumptions.

Conclusions:

• The instructionist, control-theoretic assumptions in motor control are potentially ill-motivated.
• Developments in active inference suggest a need to revise or move beyond traditional instruction-based models of motor control.
• Skillful performance might be better understood through frameworks that do not rely on explicit, knowledge-driven commands.