Optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning.

Motor control requires the generation of a precise temporal sequence of control signals sent to the skeletal musculature. We describe an experiment that, for good performance, requires human subjects to plan movements taking into account uncertainty in their movement duration and the increase in tha...

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Main Authors: Todd E Hudson, Laurence T Maloney, Michael S Landy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2008-07-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000130&type=printable
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author Todd E Hudson
Laurence T Maloney
Michael S Landy
author_facet Todd E Hudson
Laurence T Maloney
Michael S Landy
author_sort Todd E Hudson
collection DOAJ
description Motor control requires the generation of a precise temporal sequence of control signals sent to the skeletal musculature. We describe an experiment that, for good performance, requires human subjects to plan movements taking into account uncertainty in their movement duration and the increase in that uncertainty with increasing movement duration. We do this by rewarding movements performed within a specified time window, and penalizing slower movements in some conditions and faster movements in others. Our results indicate that subjects compensated for their natural duration-dependent temporal uncertainty as well as an overall increase in temporal uncertainty that was imposed experimentally. Their compensation for temporal uncertainty, both the natural duration-dependent and imposed overall components, was nearly optimal in the sense of maximizing expected gain in the task. The motor system is able to model its temporal uncertainty and compensate for that uncertainty so as to optimize the consequences of movement.
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spelling doaj-art-5d241dd30cd0470586b94a4f58cfb27a2025-08-20T02:00:55ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582008-07-0147e100013010.1371/journal.pcbi.1000130Optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning.Todd E HudsonLaurence T MaloneyMichael S LandyMotor control requires the generation of a precise temporal sequence of control signals sent to the skeletal musculature. We describe an experiment that, for good performance, requires human subjects to plan movements taking into account uncertainty in their movement duration and the increase in that uncertainty with increasing movement duration. We do this by rewarding movements performed within a specified time window, and penalizing slower movements in some conditions and faster movements in others. Our results indicate that subjects compensated for their natural duration-dependent temporal uncertainty as well as an overall increase in temporal uncertainty that was imposed experimentally. Their compensation for temporal uncertainty, both the natural duration-dependent and imposed overall components, was nearly optimal in the sense of maximizing expected gain in the task. The motor system is able to model its temporal uncertainty and compensate for that uncertainty so as to optimize the consequences of movement.https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000130&type=printable
spellingShingle Todd E Hudson
Laurence T Maloney
Michael S Landy
Optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning.
PLoS Computational Biology
title Optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning.
title_full Optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning.
title_fullStr Optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning.
title_full_unstemmed Optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning.
title_short Optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning.
title_sort optimal compensation for temporal uncertainty in movement planning
url https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000130&type=printable
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AT laurencetmaloney optimalcompensationfortemporaluncertaintyinmovementplanning
AT michaelslandy optimalcompensationfortemporaluncertaintyinmovementplanning