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The effect of visual transformation on bimanual circling movement

Experimental Brain Research volume 166, pages 277–286 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

In order to examine the effect of visual transformation on bimanual movements of various difficulty, fourteen participants performed bimanual circling tasks in three asymmetric movement modes—90° (the left hand precedes the right hand by 1/4 cycle), 180° (the delay between two hands is 1/2 cycle), and 270° (the left hand precedes the right hand by 3/4 cycle)—under the normal vision condition and the visual transformation condition. In the visual transformation condition, movement of the right hand was transformed so that the required bimanual movement was always presented visually as a symmetric pattern. Additionally, the participants also performed a 0° mode (in-phase symmetric) movement. Results revealed that the visual transformation increased the movement accuracy, with the variability of the right–left difference unchanged. Thus, proper visual transformation can improve the accuracy of a movement task. The 0° mode was performed with higher stability and accuracy than any other movement modes of the visual transformation condition and normal vision conditions. In addition, the constant error associated with the 90° and 270° modes indicated that, in the normal vision condition, the executed movement was shifted to the 180° mode, whereas in the visual transformation condition it stayed around the required mode and was slightly shifted to the 0° mode. This result suggests that visual transformation can change the relationship between the intention to realize the required mode and the intrinsic neuromuscular dynamics. The effect size of visual transformation was larger in the 90° and 270° modes than in the 180° mode. It is thus concluded that the effect of visual transformation depends upon the difficulty of the movement task.

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Author notes

  1. Saeka Tomatsu

    Present address: Department of Behavioral Physiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience, 2–6 Musashidai, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8526, Japan

Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan

    Saeka Tomatsu & Tatsuyuki Ohtsuki

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  1. Saeka Tomatsu
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  2. Tatsuyuki Ohtsuki
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Correspondence to Saeka Tomatsu.

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Tomatsu, S., Ohtsuki, T. The effect of visual transformation on bimanual circling movement. Exp Brain Res 166, 277–286 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-2363-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-2363-1

Keywords

  • Bimanual movement
  • Visual transformation
  • Perception
  • Circling movement