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Proceedings. Biological Sciences Nov 2023Movements are naturally composed of submovements, i.e. recurrent speed pulses (2-3 Hz), possibly reflecting intermittent feedback-based motor adjustments. In visuomotor...
Movements are naturally composed of submovements, i.e. recurrent speed pulses (2-3 Hz), possibly reflecting intermittent feedback-based motor adjustments. In visuomotor (unimanual) synchronization tasks, partners alternate submovements over time, indicating mutual coregulation. However, it is unclear whether submovement coordination is organized differently between and within individuals. Indeed, different types of information may be variably exploited for intrapersonal and interpersonal coordination. Participants performed a series of bimanual tasks alone or in pairs, with or without visual feedback (solo task only). We analysed the relative timing of submovements between their own hands or between their own hands and those of their partner. Distinct coordinative structures emerged at the submovement level depending on the relevance of visual feedback. Specifically, the relative timing of submovements (between partners/effectors) shifts from alternation to simultaneity and a mixture of both when coordination is achieved using vision (interpersonal), proprioception/efference-copy only (intrapersonal, without vision) or all information sources (intrapersonal, with vision), respectively. These results suggest that submovement coordination represents a behavioural proxy for the adaptive weighting of different sources of information within action-perception loops. In sum, the microstructure of movement reveals common principles governing the dynamics of sensorimotor control to achieve both intra- and interpersonal coordination.
Topics: Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Movement; Hand
PubMed: 37964525
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1576 -
Scientific Reports Feb 2023Previous studies suggest that humans are capable of coregulating the speed of decisions and movements if promoted by task incentives. It is unclear however whether such...
Previous studies suggest that humans are capable of coregulating the speed of decisions and movements if promoted by task incentives. It is unclear however whether such behavior is inherent to the process of translating decisional information into movements, beyond posing a valid strategy in some task contexts. Therefore, in a behavioral online study we imposed time constraints to either decision- or movement phases of a sensorimotor task, ensuring that coregulating decisions and movements was not promoted by task incentives. We found that participants indeed moved faster when fast decisions were promoted and decided faster when subsequent finger tapping movements had to be executed swiftly. These results were further supported by drift diffusion modelling and inspection of psychophysical kernels: Sensorimotor delays related to initiating the finger tapping sequence were shorter in fast-decision as compared to slow-decision blocks. Likewise, the decisional speed-accuracy tradeoff shifted in favor of faster decisions in fast-tapping as compared to slow-tapping blocks. These findings suggest that decisions not only impact movement characteristics, but that properties of movement impact the time taken to decide. We interpret these behavioral results in the context of embodied decision-making, whereby shared neural mechanisms may modulate decisions and movements in a joint fashion.
Topics: Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Movement
PubMed: 36841847
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30325-4 -
Brain and Cognition Jun 2021Motor imagery practice is a current trend, but there is a need for a systematic integration of neuroscientific advances in the field. In this review, we describe the... (Review)
Review
Motor imagery practice is a current trend, but there is a need for a systematic integration of neuroscientific advances in the field. In this review, we describe the technique of motor imagery practice and its neural representation, considering different fields of application. The current practice of individualized motor imagery practice schemes often lacks systematization and is mostly based on experience. We review literature related to motor imagery practice in order to identify relevant modulators of practice effects like previous experience in motor training and motor imagery practice, the type of motor task to be trained, and strategies to increase sensory feedback during physical practice. Relevant discrepancies are identified between neuroscientific findings and practical consideration of these findings. To bridge these gaps, more effort should be directed at analyzing the brain network activities related to practically relevant motor imagery practice interventions.
Topics: Feedback, Sensory; Humans; Imagination; Motor Skills; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 33652364
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105705 -
Journal of Neurophysiology Jan 2023Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has noted alterations to motor performance and coordination, potentially affecting...
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has noted alterations to motor performance and coordination, potentially affecting learning processes and the acquisition of motor skills. This work will provide insight into the role of altered neural processing and sensorimotor integration (SMI) while learning a novel visuomotor task in young adults with ADHD. This work compared adults with ADHD ( = 12) to neurotypical controls ( = 16), using a novel visuomotor tracing task, where participants used their right-thumb to trace a sinusoidal waveform that varied in both frequency and amplitude. This learning paradigm was completed in pre, acquisition, and post blocks, where participants additionally returned and completed a retention and transfer test 24 h later. Right median nerve short latency somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) were collected pre and post motor acquisition. Performance accuracy and variability improved at post and retention measures for both groups for both normalized ( < 0.001) and absolute ( < 0.001) performance scores. N18 SEP: increased in the ADHD group post motor learning and decreased in controls ( < 0.05). N20 SEP: increased in both groups post motor learning ( < 0.01). P25: increased in both groups post motor learning ( < 0.001). N24: increased for both groups at post measures ( < 0.05). N30: decreased in the ADHD group and increased in controls ( < 0.05). These findings suggest that there may be differences in cortico-cerebellar and prefrontal processing in response to novel visuomotor tasks in those with ADHD. Alterations to somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) were present in young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), when compared with neurotypical controls. The N18 and N30 SEP peak had differential changes between groups, suggesting alterations to olivary-cerebellar-M1 processing and SMI in those with ADHD when acquiring a novel visuomotor tracing task. This suggests that short-latency SEPs may be a useful biomarker in the assessment of differential responses to motor acquisition in those with ADHD.
Topics: Humans; Young Adult; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Psychomotor Performance; Motor Skills; Learning; Thumb; Electroencephalography
PubMed: 36448686
DOI: 10.1152/jn.00173.2022 -
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience Aug 2019Peripersonal space is a multisensory representation relying on the processing of tactile and visual stimuli presented on and close to different body parts. The most...
Peripersonal space is a multisensory representation relying on the processing of tactile and visual stimuli presented on and close to different body parts. The most studied peripersonal space representation is perihand space (PHS), a highly plastic representation modulated following tool use and by the rapid approach of visual objects. Given these properties, PHS may serve different sensorimotor functions, including guidance of voluntary actions such as object grasping. Strong support for this hypothesis would derive from evidence that PHS plastic changes occur before the upcoming movement rather than after its initiation, yet to date, such evidence is scant. Here, we tested whether action-dependent modulation of PHS, behaviorally assessed via visuotactile perception, may occur before an overt movement as early as the action planning phase. To do so, we probed tactile and visuotactile perception at different time points before and during the grasping action. Results showed that visuotactile perception was more strongly affected during the planning phase (250 msec after vision of the target) than during a similarly static but earlier phase (50 msec after vision of the target). Visuotactile interaction was also enhanced at the onset of hand movement, and it further increased during subsequent phases of hand movement. Such a visuotactile interaction featured interference effects during all phases from action planning onward as well as a facilitation effect at the movement onset. These findings reveal that planning to grab an object strengthens the multisensory interaction of visual information from the target and somatosensory information from the hand. Such early updating of the visuotactile interaction reflects multisensory processes supporting motor planning of actions.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Personal Space; Psychomotor Performance; Touch Perception; Visual Perception; Young Adult
PubMed: 30321094
DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01349 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Apr 2022Repetition of specific movement biases subsequent actions towards the practiced movement, a phenomenon known as use-dependent learning (UDL). Recent experiments that...
Repetition of specific movement biases subsequent actions towards the practiced movement, a phenomenon known as use-dependent learning (UDL). Recent experiments that impose strict constraints on planning time have revealed two sources of use-dependent biases, one arising from dynamic changes occurring during motor planning and another reflecting a stable shift in motor execution. Here, we used a distributional analysis to examine the contribution of these biases in reaching. To create the conditions for UDL, the target appeared at a designated 'frequent' location on most trials, and at one of six 'rare' locations on other trials. Strikingly, the heading angles were bimodally distributed, with peaks at both frequent and rare target locations. Despite having no constraints on planning time, participants exhibited a robust bias towards the frequent target when movements were self-initiated quickly, the signature of a planning bias; notably, the peak near the rare target was shifted in the frequently practiced direction, the signature of an execution bias. Furthermore, these execution biases were not only replicated in a delayed-response task but were also insensitive to reward. Taken together, these results extend our understanding of how volitional movements are influenced by recent experience.
Topics: Bias; Goals; Humans; Movement; Psychomotor Performance; Reward
PubMed: 35473382
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0415 -
Current Biology : CB Jan 2022Across species and ages, planning multi-step actions is a hallmark of intelligence and critical for survival. Traditionally, researchers adopt a "top-down" approach to...
Across species and ages, planning multi-step actions is a hallmark of intelligence and critical for survival. Traditionally, researchers adopt a "top-down" approach to action planning by focusing on the ability to create an internal representation of the world that guides the next step in a multi-step action. However, a top-down approach does not inform on underlying mechanisms, so researchers can only speculate about how and why improvements in planning occur. The current study takes a "bottom-up" approach by testing developmental changes in the real-time, moment-to-moment interplay among perceptual, neural, and motor components of action planning using simultaneous video, motion-tracking, head-mounted eye tracking, and electroencephalography (EEG). Preschoolers (n = 32) and adults (n = 22) grasped a hammer with their dominant hand to pound a peg when the hammer handle pointed in different directions. When the handle pointed toward their non-dominant hand, younger children ("nonadaptive planners") used a habitual overhand grip that interfered with wielding the hammer, whereas adults and older children ("adaptive planners") used an adaptive underhand grip. Adaptive and nonadaptive children differed in when and where they directed their gaze to obtain visual information, neural activation of the motor system before reaching, and straightness of their reach trajectories. Nonadaptive children immediately used a habitual overhand grip before gathering visual information, leaving insufficient time to form a plan before acting. Our novel bottom-up approach transcends mere speculation by providing converging evidence that the development of action planning depends on a real-time "tug of war" between habits and information gathering and processing.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Child; Habits; Head; Humans; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 34883048
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.018 -
Human Factors Dec 2019In this review, we detail the impact of environmental stress on cognitive and military task performance and highlight any individual characteristics or interventions...
OBJECTIVE
In this review, we detail the impact of environmental stress on cognitive and military task performance and highlight any individual characteristics or interventions which may mitigate any negative effect.
BACKGROUND
Military personnel are often deployed in regions markedly different from their own, experiencing hot days, cold nights, and trips both above and below sea level. In spite of these stressors, high-level cognitive and operational performance must be maintained.
METHOD
A systematic review of the electronic databases Medline (PubMed), EMBASE (Scopus), PsycINFO, and Web of Science was conducted from inception up to September 2018. Eligibility criteria included a healthy human cohort, an outcome of cognition or military task performance and assessment of an environmental condition.
RESULTS
The search returned 113,850 records, of which 124 were included in the systematic review. Thirty-one studies examined the impact of heat stress on cognition; 20 of cold stress; 59 of altitude exposure; and 18 of being below sea level.
CONCLUSION
The severity and duration of exposure to the environmental stressor affects the degree to which cognitive performance can be impaired, as does the complexity of the cognitive task and the skill or familiarity of the individual performing the task.
APPLICATION
Strategies to improve cognitive performance in extreme environmental conditions should focus on reducing the magnitude of the physiological and perceptual disturbance caused by the stressor. Strategies may include acclimatization and habituation, being well skilled on the task, and reducing sensations of thermal stress with approaches such as head and neck cooling.
Topics: Cognition; Environment; Humans; Military Personnel; Psychomotor Performance; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 31002273
DOI: 10.1177/0018720819839817 -
Occupational Therapy International 2021Original research articles regarding visual motor integration skills in children with developmental disabilities and the impact of occupational therapy were identified,... (Review)
Review
Original research articles regarding visual motor integration skills in children with developmental disabilities and the impact of occupational therapy were identified, appraised, and synthesized. Twenty-four articles were chosen for this review. Themes were noted during the critique of articles. Three themes emerged: "age," "gender," and "diagnosis." Regarding the impact on visual motor integration, there was strong evidence for age, moderate evidence for gender, and strong evidence for diagnosis. Future research investigating visual motor integration in children should control for age and diagnosis.
Topics: Child; Developmental Disabilities; Humans; Motor Skills; Motor Skills Disorders; Occupational Therapy; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 34381323
DOI: 10.1155/2021/1801196 -
Journal of Integrative Neuroscience Jan 2022We investigated the role of age and gender in cognitive estimation abilities. Participants completed two online tasks, where different categories of estimation were...
We investigated the role of age and gender in cognitive estimation abilities. Participants completed two online tasks, where different categories of estimation were assessed (speed estimation by time and distance, and auditory estimation). Data from a total of 18886 participants (9911 females) with ages between 18 and 65 years old were gathered. Results showed variations in the estimation capacity as a function of age, with a slow but progressive decline. Estimates of duration and sound seemed to be more affected by age than estimates of speed and movement. Overall, male participants showed a better performance on both auditory and visual estimation tasks compared to females.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Executive Function; Female; Human Development; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psychomotor Performance; Thinking; Young Adult
PubMed: 35164446
DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2101010