Abstract
A well known and major component of movement control is the feedforward component, also known as the internal model. This model predicts and compensates for expected forces seen during a movement, based on recent experience, so that a well-learned task such as reaching to a target can be executed in a smooth straight manner. It has recently been shown that the state of preparation of planned movements can be tested using a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS). SAS, presented 500, 250 or 0 ms before the expected "go" cue resulted in the early release of the movement trajectory associated with the after-effects of the force field training (i.e. the internal model). In a typical motor adaptation experiment with a robot-applied force field, we tested if a SAS stimulus influences the size of after-effects that are typically seen. We found that in all subjects the after-effect magnitudes were significantly reduced when movements were released by SAS, although this effect was not further modulated by the timing of SAS. Reduced after-effects reveal at least partial existence of learned preparatory control, and identify startle effects that could influence performance in tasks such as piloting, teleoperation, and sports.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 4590-4594 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Conference proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Conference |
State | Published - 2009 |
Event | 31st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society: Engineering the Future of Biomedicine, EMBC 2009 - Minneapolis, MN, United States Duration: Sep 2 2009 → Sep 6 2009 |