Attention Guides the Motor-Timing Strategies in Finger-Tapping Tasks When Moving Fast and Slow.

Ségolène M R Guérin,Yvonne N Delevoye-Turrell,Juliette Boitout

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.574396

Abstract

Human beings adapt the spontaneous pace of their actions to interact with the environment. Yet, the nature of the mechanism enabling such adaptive behavior remains poorly understood. The aim of the present contribution was to examine the role of attention in motor timing using (a) time series analysis, and (b) a dual task paradigm. In a series of two studies, a finger-tapping task was used in sensorimotor synchronization with various tempi (from 300 to 1,100 ms) and motor complexity (one target vs. six targets). Time series analyzes indicated that two different timing strategies were used depending on the speed constraints. At slow tempi, tapping sequences were characterized by strong negative autocorrelations, suggesting the implication of cognitive predictive timing. When moving at fast and close-to-spontaneous tempi, tapping sequences were characterized by less negative autocorrelations, suggesting that timing properties emerged from body movement dynamics. The analysis of the dual-task reaction times confirmed that both the temporal and spatial constraints impacted the attentional resources allocated to the finger-tapping tasks. Overall, our work suggests that moving fast and slow involve distinct timing strategies that are characterized by contrasting attentional demands.

Highlights

Reviewed by: Digby Elliott, McMaster University, Canada Charles-Etienne Benoit, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw, Poland
When moving at fast and close-to-spontaneous tempi, tapping sequences were characterized by less negative autocorrelations, suggesting that timing properties emerged from body movement dynamics
Neither the main effect of inter-stimuli intervals (ISIs) nor the ISI × Task interaction were significant. These results revealed that the participants made more timing errors when the motor task was complex

Summary

Introduction

Reviewed by: Digby Elliott, McMaster University, Canada Charles-Etienne Benoit, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. When moving at fast and close-to-spontaneous tempi, tapping sequences were characterized by less negative autocorrelations, suggesting that timing properties emerged from body movement dynamics. The SMT is found to average ~2 Hz in adult populations (Moelants, 2002; McAuley et al, 2006) This particular motor signature is slightly faster in children and slower in elderly individuals, but remains strikingly close to two movements per second, even across tasks of different levels of complexity (e.g., finger tapping, foot stomping, hand clapping). Moving faster or slower than the SMT were activities associated with greater energy expenditure This phenomenon may be due to the fact that the ability to modulate the pace of spontaneous motor behaviors requires control. This phenomenon is experienced for example during downhill walking, for which the pace of walking can increase through the simple dynamic shift of body weight

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion