Abstract
Motor control requires the generation of a precise temporal sequence of control signals sent to the skeletal musculature. We describe an experiment that, for good performance, requires human subjects to plan movements taking into account uncertainty in their movement duration and the increase in that uncertainty with increasing movement duration. We do this by rewarding movements performed within a specified time window, and penalizing slower movements in some conditions and faster movements in others. Our results indicate that subjects compensated for their natural duration-dependent temporal uncertainty as well as an overall increase in temporal uncertainty that was imposed experimentally. Their compensation for temporal uncertainty, both the natural duration-dependent and imposed overall components, was nearly optimal in the sense of maximizing expected gain in the task. The motor system is able to model its temporal uncertainty and compensate for that uncertainty so as to optimize the consequences of movement.
Highlights
IntroductionIn the execution of any movement, there is always timing uncertainty
In the execution of any movement, there is always timing uncertainty. This uncertainty has two major consequences. It limits performance on any task for which there are costs associated with temporal imprecision
Whatever the format of the command signals [27,28,29,30,31,32], movement controlled by any physical controller-actuator system, including biological motor systems, will always exhibit some motor uncertainty
Summary
In the execution of any movement, there is always timing uncertainty. It limits performance on any task for which there are costs associated with temporal imprecision. It has implications for how the motor system should plan movements when the costs of temporal imprecision are asymmetric. In hurrying to catch a subway train, for example, the cost of arriving early is usually small compared to the cost of arriving late and missing the train. An optimal movement planner must take into account temporal reward asymmetries in forming movement plans
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