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Parallel specification of competing sensorimotor control policies for alternative action options.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Gallivan, Jason P 
Logan, Lindsey 
Wolpert, Daniel M 
Flanagan, J Randall 

Abstract

Recent theory proposes that the brain, when confronted with several action possibilities, prepares multiple competing movements before deciding among them. Psychophysical supporting evidence for this idea comes from the observation that when reaching towards multiple potential targets, the initial movement is directed towards the average location of the targets, consistent with multiple prepared reaches being executed simultaneously. However, reach planning involves far more than specifying movement direction; it requires the specification of a sensorimotor control policy that sets feedback gains shaping how the motor system responds to errors induced by noise or external perturbations. Here we found that, when a subject is reaching towards multiple potential targets, the feedback gain corresponds to an average of the gains specified when reaching to each target presented alone. Our findings provide evidence that the brain, when presented with multiple action options, computes multiple competing sensorimotor control policies in parallel before implementing one of them.

Description

Keywords

Adolescent, Brain, Feedback, Psychological, Female, Humans, Male, Movement, Noise, Photic Stimulation, Psychomotor Performance, Sensation, Young Adult

Journal Title

Nat Neurosci

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1097-6256
1546-1726

Volume Title

19

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (097803/Z/11/Z)