Neuromotor Issues in Human Performance: Introduction

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Two current approaches frequently implemented to understand mechanisms involved in motor control are presented in a series of papers. One approach aims at understanding what specific neural mechanisms are responsible for motor behavior. Such neural mechanisms might be operative at any of several sites in the nervous system, including spinal sites capable of complex reflex organization, as well as supraspinal sites involved in integrating multiple sensory and motor processes. Alternative approaches involve the assessment of kinematic and other variables used to describe the behavior using dynamical systems theory. Such an approach allows the researcher to explore relationships among groups of variables in, for example, multijoint control. In the series of papers that follow, the value of both of these approaches is discussed using examples from tasks that involve both rhythmic activities (running and cycling) and discrete movement (weight lifting and golf).