Cognitive channels computing action distance and direction

Visually guided, goal-directed reaching requires encoding action distance and direction from attributes of visual landmarks. We identified a cognitive mechanism that seemingly performs visual motor extension before action initiation and replicated and extended previous results that identified a mechanism for visual motor mental rotation. We find that humans systematically delay action onset while newly planning increasingly distant arm movements beyond a visual landmark, consistent with an internal representation for visual motor extension. Onset times also changed systematically during concurrent mental rotation and visual motor extension computations required to process new directions and distances. Visual motor extension associated with reaching slowed when participants needed to plan action direction within the same time frame, whereas mental rotation efficiency was unaffected by concurrent needs to prepare action distance. In contrast to parallel direction and distance computations needed for direct aiming to a visual target, the planning of new directions and distances likely occurs at distinct times. When considered with previous findings, the current results suggest the existence of an intermediate component of motor preparation that engages a covert mechanism of cognitive motor planning.