Is visual-based, online control of manual-aiming movements disturbed when adapting to new movement dynamics?

Abstract

Previous research has shown that for goal-directed movements, online visual feedback is not necessary for the adaptation of movement planning to novel movement dynamics. In the present study, we wanted to put this proposition to a stringent test and determine whether the usually dominant role of online visual feedback in movement control is diminished when goal-directed movements are performed in a condition that modifies limb dynamics. Participants performed a video-aiming task while the center of mass of their forearm was experimentally displaced by a 1.5-kg mass attached laterally to its longitudinal axis. A cursor representing the position of the participant’s hand was either visible or not visible during the acquisition phase. Then, in a transfer test, the participants performed the task without online visual feedback and either with or without the lateral mass. During the acquisition phase, the participants adapted to the new movement dynamics imposed by the added mass regardless of whether online visual feedback was available. An important new finding of the present study was the observation that the role usually played by online visual feedback in refining movement planning and ensuring control of the initial portion of goal-directed movements was suppressed during adaptation to novel movement dynamics. This resulted in an increase in the role played by visual feedback late in the movement to ensure endpoint accuracy.