Abstract
Manual interception, such as catching or hitting an approaching ball, requires the hand to contact a moving object at the right location and at the right time. Many studies have examined the neural mechanisms underlying the spatial aspects of goal-directed reaching, but the neural basis of the spatial and temporal aspects of manual interception are largely unknown. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to investigate the role of the human middle temporal visual motion area (MT+/V5) and superior parieto-occipital cortex (SPOC) in the spatial and temporal control of manual interception. Participants were required to reach-to-intercept a downward moving visual target that followed an unpredictably curved trajectory, presented on a screen in the vertical plane. We found that rTMS to MT+/V5 influenced interceptive timing and positioning, whereas rTMS to SPOC only tended to increase the spatial variance in reach end points for selected target trajectories. These findings are consistent with theories arguing that distinct neural mechanisms contribute to spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal control of manual interception.
Highlights
In most everyday situations, human interactions with objects in the surrounding environment are inherently dynamic
We found that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to middle temporal (MT)+/V5 influenced interceptive timing and positioning, whereas rTMS to superior parieto-occipital cortex (SPOC) only tended to increase the spatial variance in reach end points for selected target trajectories
In this study, we examined the role of brain areas MT+/V5 and SPOC in the spatial and temporal control of manual interception
Summary
Human interactions with objects in the surrounding environment are inherently dynamic. During manual interception tasks such as catching or hitting an approaching ball, the object of interest or the human is usually in motion. Neurophysiological studies on manual interception have focused predominantly on temporal performance, namely how the brain controls interceptive timing. Interception, requires accurate spatiotemporal mechanisms (Peper et al, 1994; Dessing et al, 2002, 2005, 2009). The neural bases of both mechanisms remain poorly understood in the human. Our aim was to determine specific neuroanatomical regions involved in spatial and temporal control of interceptive reaching
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