Circle Drawing Task Research Articles

A Circle-Drawing Task for Studying Reward-Based Motor Learning in Children and Adults

Childhood is an obvious period for motor learning, since children’s musculoskeletal and nervous systems are still in development. Adults adapt movements based on reward feedback about success and failure, but it is less established whether school-age children also exhibit such reward-based motor learning. We designed a new ‘circle-drawing’ task suitable for assessing reward-based motor learning in both children (7–17 years old) and adults (18–65 years old). Participants drew circles with their unseen hand on a tablet. They received binary reward feedback after each attempt based on the proximity of the average radius of their drawing to a target radius set as double the radius of their baseline drawings. We rewarded about 50% of the trials based on a performance-dependent reward criterion. Both children (10.1 ± 2.5 (mean ± SD) years old) and adults (37.6 ± 10.2 years old) increased the radius of their drawings in the direction of the target radius. We observed no difference in learning between children and adults. Moreover, both groups changed the radius, less following reward than following reward absence, which is a sign of reward-based motor learning. We conclude that school-age children, like adults, exhibit reward-based motor learning.

Recreational gymnastics exercise of moderate intensity enhances executive function in Chinese preschoolers: A randomized controlled trial.

The current study aimed to investigate the impact of recreational gymnastics on executive function in Chinese preschoolers, with a focus on gymnastics potential to enhance core components of executive function. A total of 63 preschool children who received full-time education were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (N = 31, mean age = 66.27 months, SD = 3.12 months) or a control group (N = 32, mean age = 66.79 months, SD = 3.34 months). The intervention group engaged in recreational gymnastics for 60 min, three times a week for 12 weeks. Meanwhile, the control group continued with their typical outdoor activities at kindergarten and did not participate in any organized sports. The intervention program was primarily conducted through group play and was facilitated by teachers who underwent standardized training. Various simple and complex tasks were utilized to evaluate delay gratification (Snack delay and Wrapped gift), inhibitory control (Stop signal task and Circle drawing task), working memory (Letter memory task and Keep track task), and cognitive flexibility (Go/No-Go task and Dots task). The analysis of covariance revealed that the children who participated in the intervention outperformed the control group on most simple and complex executive function tasks. Specifically, these children demonstrated an enhanced ability to regulate persistent responses, process and update information, and manage high cognitive conflict. The findings of this investigation lend support to the hypothesis that moderate-intensity recreational gymnastics is an efficacious means of enhancing executive function in early childhood. Future research should employ a larger sample size, incorporate a long-term follow-up design, and utilize a multi-method approach to further substantiate the impact of moderate-intensity gymnastics on the executive function of young children, as well as to investigate its underlying mechanism and generalizability.

The effectiveness of exergames intervention on motor memory and inhibitory control of children with executive function disorders: A randomized control trial

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of exergames in improving the motor memory and inhibitory control of children with executive functions disorder. Children, selected by simple random method were divided into two groups: experimental (n = 16) and control (n = 16). Circle drawing task, and The Serial Reaction Time Task were used to collect and analyze data. The current study is a randomized control trial (RCT) type of research with a two-group pretest, post-test, and follow up –test design in terms of the purpose of applied research and the method of data collection. T-test results for the differences in post- test mean scores between the two groups in motor memory and inhibitory control showed that the treatment group outperformed the control group. There were statistical differences between pre and post measures in favor of post test, and between pre and follow up measures in favor of follow up test, but no statistical differences between post and follow up test. This study demonstrates that it is possible to enhance motor memory and inhibitory control of children with executive functions disorder using exergames intervention.

Impact of sensory modality and tempo in motor timing.

Accurate motor timing requires the coordinated control of actions in response to external stimuli. Over the past few years, several studies have investigated the effect of sensory input on motor timing; however, the evidence remains conflicting. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of sensory modality and tempo on the accuracy of timed movements and explore strategies for enhancing motor timing. Participants (n = 30) performed synchronization and adaptation circle drawing tasks in virtual reality. In Experiment 1, participants synchronized circle drawing with repeated stimuli based on sensory modalities (auditory, visual, tactile, audio-visual, audio-tactile, and visual-tactile) and tempos (20, 30, and 60 bpm). In Experiment 2, we examined timing adaptation in circle drawing tasks under conditions of unexpected tempo changes, whether increased or decreased. A significant interaction effect between modality and tempo was observed in the comparison of timing accuracy. Tactile stimuli exhibited significantly higher timing accuracy at 60 bpm, whereas auditory stimuli demonstrated a peak accuracy at 30 bpm. The analysis revealed a significantly larger timing error when adapting to changes in the tempo-down condition compared with the tempo-up condition. Through Experiment 1, we found that sensory modality impacts motor timing differently depending on the tempo, with tactile modality being effective at a faster tempo and auditory modality being beneficial at a moderate tempo. Additionally, Experiment 2 revealed that adapting to changes by correcting timing errors is more challenging with decreasing tempo than with increasing tempo. Our findings suggest that motor timing is intricately influenced by sensory modality and tempo variation. Therefore, to enhance the motor timing, a comprehensive understanding of these factors and their applications is imperative.

Visual Feedback Decoding During Bimanual Circle Drawing.

The between-hand interference during bimanual tasks is a consequence of the connection between the neural controllers of movement. Previous studies showed the existence of an asymmetric between-hand interference (caused by neural crosstalk) when different kinematics plans were to be executed by each hand or when only one was visually guided and received perturbed visual feedback. Here, in continuous bimanual circle drawing tasks, we investigated if the central nervous system (CNS) can benefit from visual composite feedback, i.e., a weighted sum of hands' positions presented for the visually-guided hand, to control the non-visible hand. Our results demonstrated improvement in the non-visible non-dominant hand (NDH) performance in the presence of the composite feedback. When NDH was visually guided, the dominant hand's (DH) performance during asymmetric drawing deteriorated, while its performance during symmetric drawing improved. This indicates that the CNS's ability to leverage composite feedback, which can be the result of decoding the non-visible hand positional information from the composite feedback, is task-dependent and can be asymmetric. Also, the non-visible hand's performance degraded when DH or NDH was visually guided with amplified error feedback. The results of the amplified feedback condition do not strongly support the asymmetry of the interference during asymmetric circle drawing. Comparing muscle activations in the asymmetric experiment, we concluded that the observed kinematic differences were not due to alternation in muscle co-contractions.

Graphomotor Dysfluency as a Predictor of Disease Progression in Premanifest Huntington's Disease.

Prior studies have relied on conventional observer-based severity ratings such as the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) to identify early motor markers of decline in Huntington's disease (HD). The present study examined the predictive utility of graphomotor measures handwriting and drawing movements. Seventeen gene-positive premanifest HD subjects underwent comprehensive clinical, cognitive, motor, and graphomotor assessments at baseline and at follow-up intervals ranging from 9-36 months. Baseline graphomotor assessments were subjected to linear multiple regression procedures to identify factors associated with change on the comprehensive UHDRS index. Subjects were followed for an average of 21.2 months. Three multivariate regression models based on graphomotor variables derived from a complex loop task, a maximum speed circle drawing task and a combined task returned adjusted R2 coefficients of 0.76, 0.71, and 0.80 respectively accounting for a significant portion of the variability in cUHDRS change score. The best-fit model based on the combined tasks indicated that greater decline on the cUHDRS was associated with increased pen movement dysfluency and stroke-stroke variability at baseline. Performance on multiple measures of graphomotor dysfluency assessed during the premanifest or prodromal stage in at-risk HD individuals was associated with decline on a multidimensional index on HD morbidity preceding an HD diagnosis.

Using immersive virtual reality to remotely examine performance differences between dominant and non-dominant hands

Circle drawing may be a useful task to study upper-limb function in patient populations. However, previous studies rely on expensive and bulky robotics to measure performance. For clinics or hospitals with limited budgets and space, this may be unfeasible. Virtual reality (VR) provides a portable and low-cost tool with integrated motion capture. It offers potentially a more feasible medium by which to assess upper-limb motor function. Prior to use with patient populations, it is important to validate and test the capabilities of VR with healthy users. This study examined whether a VR-based circle drawing task, completed remotely using participant’s own devices, could capture differences between movement kinematics of the dominant and non-dominant hands in healthy individuals. Participants (n = 47) traced the outline of a circle presented on their VR head-mounted displays with each hand, while the positions of the hand-held controllers were continuously recorded. Although there were no differences observed in the size or roundness of circles drawn with each hand, consistent with prior literature our results did show that the circles drawn with the dominant hand were completed faster than those with the non-dominant hand. This provides preliminary evidence that a VR-based circle drawing task may be a feasible method for detecting subtle differences in function in clinical populations.

An Edugame as a Didactic Tool for the Development of Executive Functions

The aim of this work is to design an edugame, created at the Laboratory H of the Department of Human, Philosophical, and Educational Sciences of the University of Salerno, as a didactic tool to assess and promote the development of executive functions in children with special educational needs attending primary school. The good functioning of executive functions is assessed through specific tests and is a predictor of the prerequisites necessary for school learning and the development of social skills. The edugame prototype will be composed of several interactive games to allow students to train some cognitive skills at an increasing level. The prototype will consist of several interactive games to enable students to train certain cognitive skills at an increasing level. In the first design phase, work will focus on one of the components of executive functions: inhibition. In fact, the first game was implemented starting from an application created in Lab-H, built on the basis of the circle drawing task, to assess the capacity for inhibition.

Correlations between Hand Dexterity and Bimanual Coordination on the Activities of Daily Living in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background/Aims: Many motor impairments are present in older adults with cognitive decline. One of them is the impairment of hand dexterity and bimanual coordination that result in poor functional ability in the activities of daily living (ADL). This study investigated the effects of hand dexterity and bimanual coordination declination on the sub-domains of ADL in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Thirty-one senior individuals with MCI were recruited in this study. The Purdue Pegboard Test was used to measure hand dexterity, and bimanual coordination was assessed by the continuous circle-drawing task. Their ADL were assessed with the General Activity Daily Living questionnaire. Results: The correlations analysis showed an association between the dominant hand and bimanual dexterity with the domestic domain of ADL and all conditions of hand dexterity with the complex domain of ADL. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis showed that the predictor of the greatest effect for domestic and complex domains was dominant hand dexterity. Discussion/Conclusion: These results revealed that dominant hand dexterity strongly affected domestic and complex ADL in older adults with MCI. There were age-related changes regarding lateral asymmetrical motor reduction, especially in cognitive tasks. However, complex tasks involving cognitive function may need dominant, nondominant and bimanual hand dexterity.

Upper-Limb Muscle Synergy Features in Human-Robot Interaction with Circle-Drawing Movements.

The upper-limb rehabilitation robots can be developed as an efficient tool for motor function assessments. Circle-drawing has been used as a specific task for robot-based motor function measurement. The upper-limb movement-related kinematic and kinetic parameters measured by motion and force sensors embedded in the rehabilitation robots have been widely studied. However, the muscle synergies characterized by multiple surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals in upper limbs during human-robot interaction (HRI) with circle-drawing movements are rarely investigated. In this research, the robot-assisted and constrained circle-drawing movements for upper limb were used to increase the consistency of muscle synergy features. Both clockwise and counterclockwise circle-drawing tasks were implemented by all healthy subjects using right hands. The sEMG signals were recorded from six muscles in upper limb, and nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) analysis was utilized to obtain muscle synergy information. Both synergy pattern and activation coefficient were calculated to represent the spatial and temporal features of muscle synergies, respectively. The results obtained from the experimental study confirmed that high structural similarity of muscle synergies was found among the subjects during HRI with circle-drawing movement by healthy subjects, which indicates healthy people may share a common underlying muscle control mechanism during constrained upper-limb circle-drawing movement. This study indicates the muscle synergy analysis during the HRI with constrained circle-drawing movement could be considered as a task for upper-limb motor function assessment.

Right-left asymmetry in corticospinal tract microstructure and dexterity are uncoupled in late adulthood

Ageing leads to a decline in white matter microstructure and dexterous function of the hand. In adolescents, it has previously been shown that the degree of right-left asymmetry in the corticospinal tract (CST) is linearly related with right-left asymmetry in dexterity. Here, we tested whether this association is also expressed in older adults. Participants completed a simple circle drawing task with their right and left hand as a measure of dexterity and underwent whole-brain diffusion weighted imaging at 3 Tesla (n = 199; aged 60–72 years). Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity of right and left CST were extracted from a manually defined region-of-interest. Linear regression analyses were computed to replicate the analyses in adolescents. Frequentist analyses were complemented with a Bayesian analytical framework. Outcome measures were compared with those previously reported in adolescents (aged 11–16 years). Asymmetries in white matter microstructure of the CST were evident and comparable to the degree of lateralisation observed in adolescence. Similarly, asymmetries in dexterity were evident, but to a lesser degree than in adolescents. Unlike in adolescents, we found no evidence of a linear relationship between asymmetries in CST microstructure and dexterity. Complementary Bayesian regression analysis provided moderate evidence in favour of the null hypothesis, pointing towards a lack of association between the structural and functional measures of right-left asymmetry. Our findings are compatible with the notion that, by late adulthood, a diverging impact of age on white matter structure and dexterous hand function dilutes the structure-function relationship between CST microstructure and manual proficiency that has been reported in adolescents.

The Role of Robotic Path Assistance and Weight Support in Facilitating 3D Movements in Individuals With Poststroke Hemiparesis

Background. High-intensity repetitive training is challenging to provide poststroke. Robotic approaches can facilitate such training by unweighting the limb and/or by improving trajectory control, but the extent to which these types of assistance are necessary is not known. Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which robotic path assistance and/or weight support facilitate repetitive 3D movements in high functioning and low functioning subjects with poststroke arm motor impairment relative to healthy controls. Methods. Seven healthy controls and 18 subjects with chronic poststroke right-sided hemiparesis performed 300 repetitions of a 3D circle-drawing task using a 3D Cable-driven Arm Exoskeleton (CAREX) robot. Subjects performed 100 repetitions each with path assistance alone, weight support alone, and path assistance plus weight support in a random order over a single session. Kinematic data from the task were used to compute the normalized error and speed as well as the speed-error relationship. Results. Low functioning stroke subjects (Fugl-Meyer Scale score = 16.6 ± 6.5) showed the lowest error with path assistance plus weight support, whereas high functioning stroke subjects (Fugl-Meyer Scale score = 59.6 ± 6.8) moved faster with path assistance alone. When both speed and error were considered together, low functioning subjects significantly reduced their error and increased their speed but showed no difference across the robotic conditions. Conclusions. Robotic assistance can facilitate repetitive task performance in individuals with severe arm motor impairment, but path assistance provides little advantage over weight support alone. Future studies focusing on antigravity arm movement control are warranted poststroke.

Chapter 20 - Local field potentials for BCI control

The gold standard in brain-computer interface (BCI) modalities is multi single-unit recordings in the primary motor cortex. It yields the fastest and most elegant control (i.e., most degrees of freedom and bitrate). Unfortunately, single-unit electrodes are prone to encapsulation, which limit their single-unit recording life. However, encapsulation does not significantly affect intracortical local field potentials (LFPs). LFPs and single-unit activity were recorded from the motor cortices of three monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) while they performed a standard 3D center-out reaching task and a 3D circle-drawing task. The high frequency (HF) (60-200 Hz) spectral amplitudes of a subset of the LFPs were found to be directionally tuned much like single units. In fact, stable isolation of single units on the same electrode increased the likelihood that the HF-LFP would be significantly cosine tuned to hand direction. The presence of significantly tuned single units further increased the likelihood of a tuned HF-LFP, suggesting that this band of HF-LFP activity is at least partially generated by local neuronal action potential currents (i.e., single-unit activity). Given that encapsulation makes recording single units over a long period of time difficult, these results suggest that HF-LFPs may be a more stable and efficient method of monitoring neural activity for BCI applications.

Repetitive finger movement and circle drawing in persons with Parkinson's disease.

Little is known regarding how repetitive finger movement performance impacts other fine motor control tasks, such as circle drawing, in persons with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Previous research has shown that impairments in repetitive finger movements emerge at rates near to and above 2 Hz in most persons with PD. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare circle drawing performance in persons with PD that demonstrate impairment in repetitive finger movement and those that do not. Twenty-two participants with PD and twelve healthy older adults completed the study. Only participants with PD completed the repetitive finger movement task. From the kinematic data for the repetitive finger movement task, participants were grouped into Hasteners and Non-Hasteners. Participants with PD and the healthy older adults completed a series of circle drawing tasks at two different target sizes (1 cm and 2 cm) and three pacing conditions (Self-paced, 1.25 Hz, and 2.5 Hz). Kinematic and electromyography data were recorded and compared between groups. Results revealed that, in general, persons with PD demonstrate impairments in circle drawing and associated electromyography activity compared to healthy older adults. Moreover, persons with PD that hasten during repetitive finger movements demonstrate significantly increased movement rate during circle drawing, while those persons with PD that do not hasten demonstrate a significant increase in width variability. This suggests that differing motor control mechanisms may play a role in the performance of fine motor tasks in persons with PD. Continued research is needed to better understand differences in circle drawing performance among persons with PD to inform future development of patient-centered treatments.

Effects of Concurrent Manual Task Performance on Connected Speech Acoustics in Individuals With Parkinson Disease.

Purpose Prior investigations suggest that simultaneous performance of more than 1 motor-oriented task may exacerbate speech motor deficits in individuals with Parkinson disease (PD). The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the extent to which performing a low-demand manual task affected the connected speech in individuals with and without PD. Method Individuals with PD and neurologically healthy controls performed speech tasks (reading and extemporaneous speech tasks) and an oscillatory manual task (a counterclockwise circle-drawing task) in isolation (single-task condition) and concurrently (dual-task condition). Results Relative to speech task performance, no changes in speech acoustics were observed for either group when the low-demand motor task was performed with the concurrent reading tasks. Speakers with PD exhibited a significant decrease in pause duration between the single-task (speech only) and dual-task conditions for the extemporaneous speech task, whereas control participants did not exhibit changes in any speech production variable between the single- and dual-task conditions. Conclusions Overall, there were little to no changes in speech production when a low-demand oscillatory motor task was performed with concurrent reading. For the extemporaneous task, however, individuals with PD exhibited significant changes when the speech and manual tasks were performed concurrently, a pattern that was not observed for control speakers. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8637008.

Kinematic profiles suggest differential control processes involved in bilateral in-phase and anti-phase movements

In-phase and anti-phase movements represent two basic coordination modes with different characteristics: during in-phase movements, bilateral homologous muscle groups contract synchronously, whereas during anti-phase movements, they contract in an alternating fashion. Previous studies suggested that in-phase movements represent a more stable and preferential bilateral movement template in humans. The current experiment aims at confirming and extending this notion by introducing new empirical measures of spatiotemporal dynamics during performance of a bilateral circle drawing task in an augmented-reality environment. First, we found that anti-phase compared to in-phase movements were performed with higher radial variability, a result that was mainly driven by the non-dominant hand. Second, the coupling of both limbs was higher during in-phase movements, corroborated by a lower inter-limb phase difference and higher inter-limb synchronization. Importantly, the movement acceleration profile between bilateral hands followed an in-phase relationship during in-phase movements, while no specific relationship was found in anti-phase condition. These spatiotemporal relationships between hands support the hypothesis that differential neural processes govern both bilateral coordination modes and suggest that both limbs are controlled more independently during anti-phase movements, while bilateral in-phase movements are elicited by a common neural generator.

P56. The effect of aging on bilateral coordination: differences between mirror and non-mirror movements in a circle-drawing task

Upper limb bilateral coordination is not only crucial for our daily living, but it is also a potential predictor for the mobility decline in the elderly. Therefore, we here investigate how aging affects bilateral coordination using a motor paradigm that includes 2 different conditions capturing fundamental aspects of bimanual control: mirror-symmetrical movement (MSM) and non-mirror-symmetrical movement (NMSM). While previously, we highlighted differential kinematic characteristics of NMSM and MSM showing that MSM are conducted with higher coupling between both limbs, we here emphasize on the effect of aging on both movement modes. Hence, we recruited twenty-five young (female: 13) and twenty-five old (female:13) healthy, right-handed volunteers, who performed a metronome-based circle drawing tasks with NMSM and MSM conditions. Compared to young participants, the elderly showed a higher auditory-motor asynchrony (young: 114.9 ± 16.85 ms, old: 218.2 ± 19.56 ms, F = 9.399, p

Spatially-defined motor deficits in people with unilateral complex regional pain syndrome

ObjectiveSpatially-defined disruption of autonomic and sensory function has been identified in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). This study aimed to determine whether motor performance is also disrupted in a spatially-defined manner in people with CRPS. MethodsThirteen people with CRPS type 1 of the upper limb participated in two motor experiments. In Experiment 1 participants performed a circle drawing task that primarily tested motor accuracy. In Experiment 2 participants performed a button pressing task that tested motor co-ordination. In both experiments the motor tasks were performed with either hand (affected or healthy), and on either side of the body midline – that is, on the affected side of space or healthy side of space. ResultsThere was a main effect of both Limb and Side for the motor tasks. In Experiment 1, motor accuracy for the circle drawing task was poorer when participants used their affected hand than when they used their healthy one (p < .001), and when the task was performed on the affected side of their body midline than when it was performed on the healthy side (p < .001). In Experiment 2, motor co-ordination for the button pressing task was poorer when participants used their affected hand than when they used their healthy one (p < .001), and when the task was performed on the affected side of the midline (p < .001), as compared to the healthy side of the midline. ConclusionsUnilateral CRPS is associated with a spatially-defined disruption of motor performance. Participants perform worse when the task is performed on the affected side of the body midline, regardless of whether they use their affected or healthy hand.

Abstract WP153: Establishing Kinimatic Age-referenced Normative Values of the Upper Extremity Using the InMotion 2 Robot

Introduction: The use of technology in stroke rehabilitation is growing rapidly. Upper extremity robotic devices provide both therapeutic intervention as well as objective kinematic assessment to evaluate arm ability of individuals with stroke. The InMotion 2® is a shoulder/elbow robot widely used in the clinic and within stroke rehabilitation research. It has the capability to provide kinematic assessment of the arm, however there are no age-referenced normative values available for comparison to a healthy population. The aim of this study was to establish normative kinematic values for the InMotion 2 robot. Hypothesis: Not Applicable. Methods: Forty healthy individuals with no history of stroke or other neurological conditions with full passive and active range of motion in both upper extremities were recruited from the community. Subjects were recruited based on age (40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-80), 10 subjects per group (5 males and 5 females). Subjects were assessed on circle and clock drawing tasks with their dominant and non-dominant arm over three trials. The kinematic parameters measured included smoothness, joint independence, hold deviation, and displacement. The mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) of dominant hand test 1 and 2 were averaged together for combined scores across age groups. Results: The following age referenced normative values were determined for each kinematic parameter: smoothness (m/s), mean and SD for 40-49 age group (.585; .027), 50-59 (.566; .033), 60-69 (.540; .048), and 70-80 (.561; .033); joint independence: 40-49 (.861; .019), 50-59 (.858; .0394), 60-69 (.839; .030), and 70-80 (.853; 024); hold deviation (meters), 40-49 (.017; .005), 50-59 (.019; .004), 60-69 (.019; .006), and 70-80 (.022; .004); displacement (meters), 40-49 (.132; .001), 50-59 (.132; .001), 60-69 (.132; .001), and 70-80 (.131; .0004). Conclusion: The analysis demonstrated that age, sex, and hand dominance did not have a significant effect on normative kinematic outcomes, however age referenced normative values establish baseline and ceiling levels which provide more meaning when interpreting scores for individuals with stroke. Further research investigating the reliability of the kinematic parameters is currently underway.

Testing the co-existence of two timing strategies for motor control in a unique task: The synchronisation spatial-tapping task

The control of rhythmic action sequences may involve two distinct timing strategies, i.e., event-based and emergent timing, which are usually revealed through finger-tapping and circle-drawing tasks, respectively. There is a lively debate concerning the possibility of coexistence of the two modes of timing for the execution of a single task. If one considers emergent timing as simply an absence of explicit representation of a time interval, then by definition, the two modes of timing cannot coexist. However, if one considers that emergent timing engages control of another motor parameter, e.g., a control of movement through space rather than time, then the possibility of coexistence needs to be reassessed. In the present study, we designed a hybrid of finger-tapping and circle-drawing tasks for which the demands for space and time control were present at the same time in order to reassess the coexistence hypothesis. Seventy-eight participants performed a spatial-tapping task in which finger taps were to be produced in synchrony with a regular metronome to 6 visual targets presented around a virtual circle. The metronome set ten distinct tempi (1100–300ms). Using autocorrelation analyses on timing variables, we show that motor timing was event-based at slow tempi and emergent at faster tempi. Through an analysis of the trajectory, we confirm that an increase in the spatial control of movement took place congruently with a switch from event-based to emergent timing modes. At these fast tempi, timing and spatial errors were correlated but only at the specific target location for which a dynamical anchor point was revealed. Hence, we conclude that the coding of emergent timing has a spatial nature from which emerge timing regularities. This spatio-temporal strategy insures the performance of sequential motor actions when cognitive effort is too high for the use of pure event-based timing strategies.