The role of reafference in recalibration of limb movement control and locomotion. 1997

J R Lackner, and P DiZio
Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. lackner@binah.cc.brandeis.edu

The reafference model has frequently been used to explain spatial constancy during eye and head movements. We have found that its basic concepts also form part of the information processing necessary for the control and recalibration of reaching movements. Reaching was studied in a novel force environment--a rotating room that creates centripetal forces of the type that could someday substitute for gravity in space flight, and Coriolis forces which are side effects of rotation. We found that inertial, noncontacting Coriolis forces deviate the path and endpoint of reaching movements, a finding that shows the inadequacy of equilibrium position models of movement control. Repeated movements in the rotating room quickly lead to normal movement patterns and to a failure to perceive the perturbing forces. The first movements made after rotation stops, without Coriolis forces present, show mirror-image deviations and evoke perception of a perturbing force even though none is present. These patterns of sensorimotor control and adaptation can largely be explained on the basis of comparisons of efference copy, reafferent muscle spindle, and cutaneous mechanoreceptor signals. We also describe experiments on human locomotion using an apparatus similar to that which Mittelstaedt used to study the optomotor response of the Eristalis fly. These results show that the reafference principle relates as well to the perception of the forces acting on and exerted by the body during voluntary locomotion.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008124 Locomotion Movement or the ability to move from one place or another. It can refer to humans, vertebrate or invertebrate animals, and microorganisms. Locomotor Activity,Activities, Locomotor,Activity, Locomotor,Locomotor Activities
D009068 Movement The act, process, or result of passing from one place or position to another. It differs from LOCOMOTION in that locomotion is restricted to the passing of the whole body from one place to another, while movement encompasses both locomotion but also a change of the position of the whole body or any of its parts. Movement may be used with reference to humans, vertebrate and invertebrate animals, and microorganisms. Differentiate also from MOTOR ACTIVITY, movement associated with behavior. Movements
D006112 Gravitation Acceleration produced by the mutual attraction of two masses, and of magnitude inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two centers of mass. It is also the force imparted by the earth, moon, or a planet to an object near its surface. (From NASA Thesaurus, 1988) G Force,Gravistimulation,Gravity,Force, G,G Forces,Gravities
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001132 Arm The superior part of the upper extremity between the SHOULDER and the ELBOW. Brachium,Upper Arm,Arm, Upper,Arms,Arms, Upper,Brachiums,Upper Arms
D014796 Visual Perception The selecting and organizing of visual stimuli based on the individual's past experience. Visual Processing,Perception, Visual,Processing, Visual

Related Publications

J R Lackner, and P DiZio
December 1977, The Journal of physiology,
J R Lackner, and P DiZio
August 2005, Current biology : CB,
J R Lackner, and P DiZio
August 2021, International journal of molecular sciences,
J R Lackner, and P DiZio
December 1998, Current opinion in neurobiology,
J R Lackner, and P DiZio
January 2019, Frontiers in psychology,
J R Lackner, and P DiZio
April 1983, Tanpakushitsu kakusan koso. Protein, nucleic acid, enzyme,
J R Lackner, and P DiZio
October 2007, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience,
J R Lackner, and P DiZio
December 1992, Current opinion in neurobiology,
J R Lackner, and P DiZio
February 2005, Journal of anatomy,
Copied contents to your clipboard!