Invariant characteristics of a pointing movement in man

TLDR

The study aimed to identify invariant movement features that might reflect central control mechanisms and suggested that proprioceptive feedback via tendon organ afferents underlies one such invariance. The authors measured wrist position in 3‑D space and elbow angle during forward hand projections to analyze arm movements. They found that the spatial trajectory is speed‑independent and that during the acceleratory phase the ratio of elbow to shoulder angular velocity remains invariant across target locations, a pattern that persists into the deceleratory phase.

Abstract

Simple arm movements involving forward projection of the hand toward a target were studied by measuring simultaneous wrist position in three- dimensional space and changes in elbow angle. An attempt was made to identify those features of the movement which exhibit invariant characteristics under the hypothesis that such invariances may reflect the operations by which central processes participate in the organization of the movement. The first such invariance to be identified was that the trajectory in space is independent of movement speed. Secondly, the movement can be viewed as consisting of two phases, an acceleratory phase and a deceleratory one, with the movement during the acceleratory phase being so organized as to maintain the ratio of elbow angular velocity to shoulder angular velocity invariant with respect to target location in the deceleratory phase. It is suggested that proprioceptive information is used to control the movement and that the latter invariance may result from a negative feedback of force involving tendon organ afferents.