Rapid movements with reversals in direction. I. The control of movement time

Abstract

Modifications to the underlying motor control of rapid reversal movements (flexion-extension of the elbow) to accommodate experimentally induced changes in the movement time (MT) with constant movement amplitude were examined in man. MT was altered between conditions via instructions and feedback, resulting in seven distinct MT levels (from 100 to 250 ms to the reversal point) with essentially constant movement amplitude. As MT was decreased, the large increases in acceleration were met by two changes in motor control: (a) two- to three-fold increases in the peak accelerations and peak amplitudes of the agonist and antagonist EMGs, and (b) a systematic "compression" of the temporal structure of the entire acceleration-time and EMG-time patterns. This temporal "compression" with increased velocity caused by shifts in MT (distance constant) are considerably different from the constant-duration EMG bursts found when velocity is altered by changing movement distance (where MT is nearly constant). Our findings indicate that MT is a determiner of the temporal structure of rapid actions, and suggest that MT should be regarded as an important controlled variable, and not simply as an emergent property of variations in velocity.