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Anticipatory Postural Adjustments associated with reaching movements are programmed according to the availability of visual information

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Abstract

During goal-directed arm movements, the eyes, head, and arm are coordinated to look at and reach the target. We examined whether the expectancy of visual information about the target modifies Anticipatory Postural Adjustments (APAs). Ten standing subjects had to (1) move the eyes, head and arm, so as to reach, with both gaze and index-finger, a target of known position placed outside their visual field (Gaze-Reach); (2) look at the target while reaching it (Reach in Full Vision); (3) keep the gaze away until having touched it (Reach then Gaze) and (4) just Gaze without Reach the target. We recorded eye, head, right arm, and acromion kinematics, EMGs from upper- and lower-limb muscles, and forces exerted on the ground. In Gaze-Reach, two coordination strategies were found: when gaze preceded arm muscle recruitment (Gaze-first) and when the opposite occurred (Reach-first). APAs in acromion kinematics, leg muscles, and ground forces started significantly earlier in Gaze-first vs. Reach-first (mean time advance: 44.3 ± 8.9 ms), as it was in Reach in Full Vision vs. Reach then Gaze (39.5 ± 7.9 ms). The Gaze-first to Reach-first time-shift was similar to that between Reach in Full Vision and Reach then Gaze (p = 0.58). Moreover, Gaze without Reach data witnessed that the head-induced postural actions did not affect the APA onset in Gaze-first and Reach-first. In conclusion, in Gaze-first, the central control of posture considers visual information while planning the movement, like in Reach in Full Vision; while Reach-first is more similar to Reach then Gaze, where vision is not required.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Human Physiology of the DePT, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Mangiagalli 32, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Roberto Esposti, Carlo Bruttini, Francesco Bolzoni & Paolo Cavallari

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  1. Roberto Esposti
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  2. Carlo Bruttini
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  3. Francesco Bolzoni
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  4. Paolo Cavallari
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Correspondence to Paolo Cavallari.

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Funding

This study was supported by a “Fondo di Investimento per la Ricerca 2014” Grant from the “Università degli Studi di Milano”, Italy.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Esposti, R., Bruttini, C., Bolzoni, F. et al. Anticipatory Postural Adjustments associated with reaching movements are programmed according to the availability of visual information. Exp Brain Res 235, 1349–1360 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4898-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4898-3

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