Simultaneous adaptation of the thumb and index finger of the same hand to opposite prism displacements. 2014

Willemijn D Schot, and Eli Brenner, and Jeroen B J Smeets
Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Center for Motor and Cognitive Disabilities, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands w.d.schot@uu.nl.

It only takes a few goal-directed hand movements to adapt one's movements to a prism-induced displacement of the visual scene. Adaptation to the displacement leads to errors in the opposite direction from the initial displacement when the prisms are removed. Such aftereffects are thought to arise from some form of spatial realignment of the senses or from motor learning. Here, we show that humans can simultaneously adapt the movements of the thumb and index finger of the same hand to opposing visual displacements. Neither the felt position of the hand nor the visually perceived direction can change in two opposite directions at the same time, ruling out an explanation based on realignment of the senses. It is conceivable that one could learn to adjust the movements differently for the two digits despite the fact that both adjustments would involve the same hand, but such motor learning should not transfer to matching the position of the unseen digit. As transfer was observed when visually matching the position of the unseen digit, motor learning cannot explain all of the results. An explanation involving supplementing proprioception with a memory-based visual estimate of the position of each unseen digit could explain all of the results. Irrespective of the mechanism, we can conclude that it is possible to adapt the perceived locations of the unseen digits without influencing proprioception.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007858 Learning Relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of past experience or practice. The concept includes the acquisition of knowledge. Phenomenography
D007909 Lenses Pieces of glass or other transparent materials used for magnification or increased visual acuity.
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D011597 Psychomotor Performance The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity. Perceptual Motor Performance,Sensory Motor Performance,Visual Motor Coordination,Coordination, Visual Motor,Coordinations, Visual Motor,Motor Coordination, Visual,Motor Coordinations, Visual,Motor Performance, Perceptual,Motor Performance, Sensory,Motor Performances, Perceptual,Motor Performances, Sensory,Perceptual Motor Performances,Performance, Perceptual Motor,Performance, Psychomotor,Performance, Sensory Motor,Performances, Perceptual Motor,Performances, Psychomotor,Performances, Sensory Motor,Psychomotor Performances,Sensory Motor Performances,Visual Motor Coordinations
D011601 Psychophysics The science dealing with the correlation of the physical characteristics of a stimulus, e.g., frequency or intensity, with the response to the stimulus, in order to assess the psychologic factors involved in the relationship. Psychophysic
D005260 Female Females
D005385 Fingers Four or five slender jointed digits in humans and primates, attached to each HAND. Finger
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000222 Adaptation, Physiological The non-genetic biological changes of an organism in response to challenges in its ENVIRONMENT. Adaptation, Physiologic,Adaptations, Physiologic,Adaptations, Physiological,Adaptive Plasticity,Phenotypic Plasticity,Physiological Adaptation,Physiologic Adaptation,Physiologic Adaptations,Physiological Adaptations,Plasticity, Adaptive,Plasticity, Phenotypic

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