Abstract
This study investigated the regularity that characterizes the behavior of dissipative dynamical systems excited by external temporal inputs for pointing movements. Right-handed healthy male participants were asked to continuously point their right index finger at two light-emitting diodes (LEDs) located in the oblique left and right directions in front of them. These movements were performed under two conditions: one in which the direction was repeated and one in which the directions were switched on a stochastic basis. These conditions consisted of 12 tempos (30, 36, 42, 48, 51, 54, 57, 60, 63, 66, 69, and 72 beats per minute). Data from the conditions under which the input pattern was repeated revealed two different trajectories in hyper-cylindrical state space [Formula: see text], whereas the conditions under which the inputs were switched induced transitions between the two trajectories, which were considered to be excited attractors. The transitions between the two excited attractors were characterized by a self-similar structure. Moreover, the correlation dimensions increased as the tempos increased. These results suggest a relationship of [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] is the switching-time length; i.e. the condition) between temporal input and pointing behavior and that continuous pointing movements are regular rather than random noise.
Highlights
If we try to understand continuous human movement according to motor program theory, we evaluate the output of human behavior as composed of continuous random trajectories
The purpose of this study was to examine the regularity of the fluctuations in human motor control, abrupt switching behavior with an external input, applying a theoretical model containing a function for switching-time length T and self-similar structure to a continuous human pointing movement
These results show that in this study the variability in human motor control, especially pointing movements towards the left and right diagonal forward directions, had a fractal-like or self-similar structure
Summary
The purpose of this study was to examine the control of rhythmical movement by humans Previous research analyzing such movement was based on the frameworks of motor program theory [Schmidt et al, 1979; Schmidt, 1991] and dynamical system theory [Haken et al, 1985; Kelso, 1984]. The variability that occurred in consecutive behaviors was considered to consist of a stochastic Gaussian distribution or random variation, such as a uniform distribution and white noise. In the latter, the dynamical system approach, the variability that occurred in continuous human movement was assumed to be not random variation but partly structured. As a central feature of normal movement, the optimal variability is consistent with a nonlinear approach [Harbourne & Stergiou, 2009], that is, the dynamical system approach
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