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The contribution of coordinated eye and head movements in hand pointing accuracy

Experimental Brain Research volume 55, pages 462–469 (1984)Cite this article

Summary

The accuracy of pointing movements of the hand, directed at visual targets 10° to 40° from the midline, was measured in normal human subjects. No visual feedback from the moving hand was available to the subjects. The head could be either maintained stationary (head-fixed condition) or free to move (head-free condition) during the pointing movements. It was found that the error in pointing was reduced for all targets in the head-free condition. This reduction was more important for the more eccentric target (40°). Improvement in accuracy was observed without any significant change in either the latency or the duration of eye, head or hand movements. In the head-free condition, it was found that the head was displaced in the direction of the target by an amount representing no more than 2/3 of the target amplitude. The improvement in accuracy was not influenced by the amplitude of the head movement. A model is proposed which shows how coordinated eye and head movements could improve the encoding of target position.

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Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Neuropsychologie Expérimentale, INSERM-Unité 94, 16, Avenue du Doyen Lépine, F-69500, Bron, France

    B. Biguer, C. Prablanc & M. Jeannerod

Authors
  1. B. Biguer
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  2. C. Prablanc
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  3. M. Jeannerod
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Work supported by INSERM-Unité 94

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Biguer, B., Prablanc, C. & Jeannerod, M. The contribution of coordinated eye and head movements in hand pointing accuracy. Exp Brain Res 55, 462–469 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235277

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235277

Key words

  • Man
  • Eye-head coordination
  • Visuomotor coordination