Review
The planning and control of reaching movements

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Abstract

The notion of internal models has become central to the study of visually guided reaching. Armed with this theoretical framework, researchers are gleaning insights into long-standing problems in the field, such as the ability to respond rapidly to changes in the location of a reach target and the fine control of the multi-joint dynamics of the arm. A key factor in these advances is our increased understanding of how the brain integrates feedforward control signals, sensory feedback, and predictions based on internal models of the arm.

Introduction

The study of volitional movement has undergone rapid progress over the past several years. A major factor in this success has been the application of new theoretical ideas to the design and analysis of psychophysical investigations. Chief among these is the notion of internal models, hypothetical computations in the brain that either predict the outcome of some motor event (forward models) or calculate the motor command required to achieve some desired state (inverse models or feedforward controllers) [1]. Another key factor is the increased availability of functional imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), techniques that allow researchers to identify the neural substrates underlying complex behavioral phenomena. As a result, it has become easier to interpret psychophysical and computational findings in terms of our growing understanding of the neurophysiology of the sensorimotor pathways [2].

In the past year, significant achievements have been made in characterizing specific feedforward and feedback control structures involved in reaching. In particular, new results have clarified our understanding of the role of visual feedback in the early stages of reach planning and the ability to precisely control the complex dynamics of multijoint movements. Other major themes have been the role of learning in the maintenance of internal models and the manner in which intrinsic (e.g. joint, muscle) information and extrinsic (e.g. perceptual, task-specific) information are combined to form a motor plan. In this review, I will discuss current trends in the study of goal-directed reaching, focusing on these recent results.

Section snippets

Feedback control: on-line trajectory control in the parietal cortex

Visually guided reaching begins with the selection of a target from the visual scene and the formation of a movement plan. Recent studies of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and superior parietal lobe (SPL) in monkey have demonstrated that these areas contain the required combination of visual, somatosensory, and motor signals to be able to coordinate this first step [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. New findings show that these early planning areas are not only responsible for the initial target

Feedforward control: interaction torques and internal models

Whereas the early stages of visually guided movement are seen to be under the control of feedback loops, evidence is mounting that aspects of the later stages of motor control rely less on feedback than many researchers previously thought. Precise control of multijoint movements requires control of the interaction torques that arise when the motion of one joint causes acceleration at another [38]. The seminal work of Sainburg and Ghez [39], [40] showed that patients who lack proprioception were

Learning and multiple internal models

In the examples of the previous section, the inverse model is adapted in the face of motor error. It is plausible, however, that other components of the system could also adapt. A possible example comes from a case in which visual feedback plays an important role in computing the inverse dynamics of the arm. When reaching while rotating the torso, the arm is subjected to Coriolis forces, yet movement of the torso does not disrupt accurate reaching. This situation is formally similar to the

Task-dependent optimal control

The task of the feedforward controllers discussed above is to allow for accurate control of the arm, which implies the existence of a motor plan. Recent thinking on the planning of reaching movements has been deeply influenced by the ‘minimum variance’ model of Harris and Wolpert [65], [66. They posit a signal-dependent variability in movement control, in which variability scales with the magnitude of the command signal. Movement trajectories are then chosen to minimize the resulting end-point

Conclusions

Over the past year, researchers studying goal-directed reaching have made significant progress, capitalizing on recently developed theoretical and experimental tools. We have a better understanding of high-level visual feedback loops and of low-level feedforward mechanisms for controlling multijoint movements. The notion of internal models has been central in these advances. In most of this work, evidence of predictive control or adaptive state estimation is used to identify internal models.

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to Daniel Wolpert for helpful comments on a draft of this manuscript.

References and recommended reading

Papers of particular interest, published within the annual period of review,have been highlighted as:

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