TY - JOUR
T1 - A real-time state predictor in motor control
T2 - Study of saccadic eye movements during unseen reaching movements
AU - Ariff, Gregory
AU - Donchin, Opher
AU - Nanayakkara, Thrishantha
AU - Shadmehr, Reza
PY - 2002/9/1
Y1 - 2002/9/1
N2 - Theoretical motor control predicts that because of delays in sensorimotor pathways, a neural system should exist in the brain that uses efferent copy of commands to the arm, sensory feedback, and an internal model of the dynamics of the arm to predict the future state of the hand (i.e., a forward model). We tested this theory under the hypothesis that saccadic eye movements, tracking an unseen reaching movement, would reflect the output of this state predictor. We found that in unperturbed reaching movements, saccade occurrence at any time t consistently provided an unbiased estimate of hand position at t + 196 msec. To investigate the behavior of this predictor during feedback error control, we applied 50 msec random-force perturbations to the moving hand. Saccades showed a sharp inhibition at 100 msec after perturbation. At ∼170 msec, there was a sharp increase in saccade probabilities. These postperturbation saccades were an unbiased estimator of hand position at saccade time t + 150 msec. The ability of the brain to guide saccades to the future position of the hand failed when a force field unexpectedly changed the dynamics of the hand immediately after perturbation. The behavior of the eyes suggested that during reaching movements, the brain computes an estimate of future hand position based on an internal model that relies on real-time proprioceptive feedback. When an error occurs in reaching movements, the estimate of future hand position is recomputed. The saccade inhibition period that follows the hand perturbation may indicate the length of time it takes for this computation to take place.
AB - Theoretical motor control predicts that because of delays in sensorimotor pathways, a neural system should exist in the brain that uses efferent copy of commands to the arm, sensory feedback, and an internal model of the dynamics of the arm to predict the future state of the hand (i.e., a forward model). We tested this theory under the hypothesis that saccadic eye movements, tracking an unseen reaching movement, would reflect the output of this state predictor. We found that in unperturbed reaching movements, saccade occurrence at any time t consistently provided an unbiased estimate of hand position at t + 196 msec. To investigate the behavior of this predictor during feedback error control, we applied 50 msec random-force perturbations to the moving hand. Saccades showed a sharp inhibition at 100 msec after perturbation. At ∼170 msec, there was a sharp increase in saccade probabilities. These postperturbation saccades were an unbiased estimator of hand position at saccade time t + 150 msec. The ability of the brain to guide saccades to the future position of the hand failed when a force field unexpectedly changed the dynamics of the hand immediately after perturbation. The behavior of the eyes suggested that during reaching movements, the brain computes an estimate of future hand position based on an internal model that relies on real-time proprioceptive feedback. When an error occurs in reaching movements, the estimate of future hand position is recomputed. The saccade inhibition period that follows the hand perturbation may indicate the length of time it takes for this computation to take place.
KW - Eye movements
KW - Feedback delay
KW - Forward models
KW - Oculomanual control
KW - Reaching movements
KW - Saccades
KW - Sensory delay
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U2 - 10.1523/jneurosci.22-17-07721.2002
DO - 10.1523/jneurosci.22-17-07721.2002
M3 - Article
C2 - 12196595
AN - SCOPUS:0036759586
SN - 0270-6474
VL - 22
SP - 7721
EP - 7729
JO - Journal of Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Neuroscience
IS - 17
ER -