Intermediate representations in the formation of arm trajectories

https://doi.org/10.1016/0959-4388(93)90164-TGet rights and content

Abstract

Psychophysical evidence shows that the planning of an arm trajectory is specified by the central nervous system in extrinsic coordinates. The complex issue of translating the planning of arm movements into muscle forces is discussed in relation to the recent discovery of structures in the brainstem and in the spinal cord. These structures represent discrete maps of motor behavior. Remarkably, the force outputs, produced by activating different zones of the map, sumvectorially. This vectorial combination of motor outputs is a mechanism for producing a vast repertoire of motor behaviors in a simple fashion.

References (52)

  • A.P. Georgopoulos et al.

    Cognitive Neuro physiology of the Motor Cortex

    Science

    (1993)
  • R.A. Andersen et al.

    The Influence of the Angle of Gaze Upon the Excitability of the Light Sensitive Neurons of the Posterior Parietal Cortex

    J Neurosci

    (1983)
  • R.A. Andersen et al.

    The Encoding of Spatial Location by Posterior Parietal Neurons

    Science

    (1985)
  • R.A. Andersen et al.

    Coordinate Transfortnations in the Representation of Spatial Information

    Curr Opin Neurobiol

    (993)
  • C. Galletti et al.

    Gaze-Dependent Visual Neurons in Area V3A of Monkey Prestriate Cortex

    J Neurosci

    (1989)
  • P.P. Battaglini et al.

    The Physiology of Area V6 in the Awake, Behaving Monkey

    J Physiol (Lond)

    (1990)
  • C. Galletti et al.

    Functional Properties of Neurons in the Anterior Bank of the Parieto-Occip ital Sulcus of the Macaque Monkey

    Eur J Neurosci

    (1991)
  • C.K. Peck et al.

    Visuo Oculomotor Properties of Cells in the Superior Colliculus of the Alert Cat

    J Comp Neural

    (1980)
  • I.N. Pigarev et al.

    Neurons with Receptive Fields Independent of Eye Position in the Caudal Section of the Ventral Bank of the Cat Cruciate Sulcus

    Neurophysiol

    (1986)
  • R.L. Sainburg et al.

    Loss of Proprioception Produces Deficits in Interjoint Coordination

    J Neurophysiol

    (1993)
  • J.D. Schall

    Neuronal Activity Related to Visually Guided Saccades in the Frontal Eye Fields of Rhesus Monkeys: Comparison with Supplementary Eye Fields

    J Neurophysiol

    (1991)
  • L. Fogassi et al.

    Space Coding by Premotor Cortex

    Exp Brain Res

    (1992)
  • D. Boussaoud et al.

    Effects of Gaze on Apparent Visual Responses of Frontal Cortex Neurons

    Exp Brain Res

    (1993)
  • B.L. McNaughton et al.

    ‘Dead Reckoning’, Landmark Learning, and the Sense of Direction: a Ncurophysiological and Computational Hypothesis

    J Cogn Neurosci

    (1991)
  • J. Gordon et al.

    Accuracy of Planar Reaching Movements. I. Independence of Direction and Extent Variability

    Exp Brain Res

    (1993)
  • C. Ghez et al.

    Programming of Extent and Direction in Human Reaching Movements

    Biomed Res

    (1993)
  • A.P. Georgopoulos et al.

    The Representation of Movement Direction in the Motor Cortex: Single Cell and Population Studies. In Dynamic Aspects of Neocortical Function

  • R.E. Kettner et al.

    Primate Motor Cortex and Free Arm Movements to Visual Targets in Three-Dimensional Space. III. Positional Gradients and Pop ulation Coding of Movement Direction from Various Movement Origins

    J Neurosci

    (1988)
  • R. Caminiti et al.

    Making Arm Movements Within Different Parts of Space: the Premotor and Motorcortical Representation of a Coordinate System for Reaching at Visual Targets

    J Neurusci

    (1991)
  • P. Morasso

    Spatial Control of Arm Movements

    Exp Brain Res

    (1981)
  • W. Abend et al.

    Human Arm Trajectory Formation

    Brain

    (1982)
  • T. Flash et al.

    The Coordination of Arm Movements: an Experimentally Confirmed Mathematical Model

    J Neurosci

    (1985)
  • T. Flash et al.

    Arm Trajectory Modifications During Reaching Towards Visual Targets

    J Cogn Neurosci

    (1991)
  • Y. Uno et al.

    Formation and Control of Optimal Trajectory in Human Multijoint Arm Movement: Minimum Torque-Change Model

    Biol Cybern

    (1989)
  • G.E. Alexander et al.

    Preparation for Movement: Neural Representations of Intended Direction in Three Motor Areas of the Monkey

    J Neurophysiol

    (1990)
  • R. Caminiti et al.

    Making Arm Movements Within Different Parts of Space: Dynamic Aspects in the Primate Motor Cortex

    J Neurosci

    (1990)
  • Cited by (8)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text