In defense of the advance specification hypothesis for motor control

Rosenbaum, David A.; Barnes, Heather J.; Slotta, James D.

doi:10.1007/bf00309412

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The finding that reaction times are affected independently by precue information and by delay length suggests that processing related to precue information is separate from processing related to motor readiness. The reduction in reaction time that results from the presentation of a precue indicates that the monkeys have partially or completely prepared the direction and amplitude of movement before presentation of the target go cue, as studies with human subjects have shown (Rosenbaum 1980;Rosenbaum et al 1988). In addition, predictive eyehand coordination (Abrams et al 1990) and enhanced spatial attention (Niemi and Keskinen 1980) may contribute to this decrease in reaction time with complete precues.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Preparation for the direction of movement was dissociated from preparation for the amplitude of movement using a behavioral task in which a sensory cue (precue) provided partial or complete advance information about the requirements of a movement before the animal was allowed to move. In human studies, such precue tasks have been instrumental in understanding how motor programs are constructed before the execution of movement begins (Goodman and Kelso 1980;Rosenbaum 1980;Rosenbaum et al 1988). A second aspect of the present behavioral task concerns the predictive control of the timing of movement initiation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Primate basal ganglia activity in a precued reaching task: preparation for movement

1993

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Single cell activity was recorded from the primate putamen, caudate nucleus, and globus pallidus during a precued reaching movement task. Two monkeys were trained to touch one of several target knobs mounted in front of them after an LED was lighted on the correct target. A precue was presented prior to this target "go cue" by a randomly varied delay interval, giving the animals partial or complete advance information about the target for the movement task. The purpose of this design was to examine neuronal activity in the major structures of the basal ganglia during the preparation phase of limb movements when varying amounts of advance information were provided to the animals. The reaction times were shortest with complete precues, intermediate with partial precues, and longest with precues containing no information, demonstrating that the animals used precue information to prepare partly or completely for the reaching movement before the target go cue was given. Changes in activity were seen in the basal ganglia during the preparatory period in 30% of neurons in putamen, 31% in caudate nucleus, and 27% in globus pallidus. Preparatory changes were stronger and more closely linked to the time of movement initiation in putamen than in caudate nucleus. Although the amount of information contained in the precues had no significant effect on preparatory activity preceding the target go cue, a directional selectivity during this period was observed for a subset of neurons with preparatory changes (15% in putamen, 11% in caudate nucleus, 14% in globus pallidus) when the precue contained information about the upcoming direction of movement. A smaller subset of neurons showed selectivity for the preparation of movement amplitude. A larger number of preparatory changes showed selectivity for the direction or amplitude of movement following the target go cue than in the delay period before the cue. The intensity of preparatory changes in activity in many cases depended on the length of the delay interval preceding the target go cue. Even following the target go cue, the intensity of the preparatory changes in activity continued to be significantly influenced by the length of the preceding delay interval for 11% of changes in putamen, 8% in caudate nucleus, and 18% in globus pallidus. This finding suggests that preparatory activity in the basal ganglia takes part in a process termed motor readiness. Behaviorally, this process was seen as a shortening of reaction time regardless of precue information for trials in which the delay interval was long and the animals showed an increased readiness to move.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primate basal ganglia activity in a precued reaching task: preparation for movement

1993

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“…For example, Heuer (1982) found a similar effect for finger movements of the two hands. Choice RTs in Heuer's experiment were shorter when the finger movements had the same spatial form than when they had different spatial forms (see also Heuer, 1987, andRosenbaum, Barnes, &Slotta, 1988).…”

Section: Structural Relations Between Possible Sequencesmentioning

confidence: 97%

On choosing between movement sequences: Comments on Rose (1988).

Rosenbaum¹

1990

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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One method of investigating human motor programming is to determine how the choice reaction time for a memorized response sequence depends on the composition of that sequence as well as the other sequence that may be required. Using this method, Rose (1988) found that the total number of responses in the two possible response sequences predicts the choice reaction time to initiate either one. On the basis of this result, Rose claimed that the hierarchical editor (HED) model of motor programming, developed by Rosenbaum, Inhoff, and Gordon (1984), may have to be reevaluated. In this commentary I argue that Rose's results are inconsistent with a precursor of the HED model, not with the HED model itself, that the HED model actually provides a better fit to Rose's data than her total-number-of-responses model, that in general, choice reaction time does not increase with the total number of possible responses, and that structural relations between alternative movement sequences are the main determinants of choice reaction time. Taken as a whole, the results suggest that possible responses are not held in completely readied form before being selected for execution. A further implication is that the storage capacity of the motor output buffer (the MOB) is extremely limited.

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“…Motor selection must be sensitive to the expected rewards, the motor cost, and task instructions. Selection is a time-consuming process because it needs to consider multiple alternatives and then settle on the most appropriate set of motor primitives – and, as for all choice-reaction time tasks, the time necessary will depend on the number [17] and dissimilarity [18] of the response alternatives.…”

Section: Selection Versus Executionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motor skill learning between selection and execution

Diedrichsen

Kornysheva

2015

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

241

195

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Learning motor skills evolves from the effortful selection of single movement elements to their combined fast and accurate production. We review recent trends in the study of skill learning which suggest a hierarchical organization of the representations that underlie such expert performance, with premotor areas encoding short sequential movement elements (chunks) or particular component features (timing/spatial organization). This hierarchical representation allows the system to utilize elements of well-learned skills in a flexible manner. One neural correlate of skill development is the emergence of specialized neural circuits that can produce the required elements in a stable and invariant fashion. We discuss the challenges in detecting these changes with fMRI. What is skill learning?Motor skill learning generally refers to neuronal changes that allow an organism to accomplish a motor task better, faster, or more accurately than before. Beyond this accepted understanding of the common use of the word, there is little agreement in the literature about a more precise, scientific definition. Most researchers, however, agree on what skill learning is not. In other words, skill learning is currently mainly defined by its demarcation from other forms of learning.First, skill learning is generally seen as separate from declarative knowledge [1] -in other words, it is not measured in terms that we can verbalize, but instead by what we can do (but see [2]), thereby falling under the broad umbrella of procedural knowledge. Furthermore, skill learning is usually distinguished from motor adaptation, which is defined as the recalibration of well-trained movements (such as locomotion, eye or reaching movements) to changes in environment [3]. This form of learning involves a parametric change driven by a sensory-prediction error on a trial-by-trial basis, and has been shown to depend on the integrity of the cerebellum [4][5][6].Within these boundaries, the term skill learning refers to improvements in accuracy or speed in a wide variety of tasks, including the serial reaction time [7], fast sequential finger tapping [8] configuration [12] tasks. In contrast to adaptation, skill learning typically involves the generation of a novel movement pattern, and is characterized by shifts in the speed-accuracy relationship [9,10,13].An important characteristic of skill learning is that it involves various levels of the motor hierarchy (see Glossary). The main purpose of this paper is therefore to present a hierarchical framework of motor skill learning, within which we will review current behavioral and neural findings. Selection versus executionA first division in skill learning can be made between the levels of action selection and action execution [10]. The output of the execution level causes muscle activity -in other words, it includes motor cortical neurons that project to the spinal cord. Recent stimulation and recording studies in primary motor cortex (M1) suggest that small movement elements, so-called motor primit...

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In defense of the advance specification hypothesis for motor control

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

Primate basal ganglia activity in a precued reaching task: preparation for movement

Primate basal ganglia activity in a precued reaching task: preparation for movement

On choosing between movement sequences: Comments on Rose (1988).

Motor skill learning between selection and execution

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