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The use of peripheral vision to guide perturbation-evoked reach-to-grasp balance-recovery reactions

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Abstract

For a reach-to-grasp reaction to prevent a fall, it must be executed very rapidly, but with sufficient accuracy to achieve a functional grip. Recent findings suggest that the CNS may avoid potential time delays associated with saccade-guided arm movements by instead relying on peripheral vision (PV). However, studies of volitional arm movements have shown that reaching is slower and/or less accurate when guided by PV, rather than central vision (CV). The present study investigated how the CNS resolves speed-accuracy trade-offs when forced to use PV to guide perturbation-evoked reach-to-grasp balance-recovery reactions. These reactions were evoked, in 12 healthy young adults, via sudden unpredictable antero-posterior platform translation (barriers deterred stepping reactions). In PV trials, subjects were required to look straight-ahead at a visual target while a small cylindrical handhold (length 25%> hand-width) moved intermittently and unpredictably along a transverse axis before stopping at a visual angle of 20°, 30°, or 40°. The perturbation was then delivered after a random delay. In CV trials, subjects fixated on the handhold throughout the trial. A concurrent visuo-cognitive task was performed in 50% of PV trials but had little impact on reach-to-grasp timing or accuracy. Forced reliance on PV did not significantly affect response initiation times, but did lead to longer movement times, longer time-after-peak-velocity and less direct trajectories (compared to CV trials) at the larger visual angles. Despite these effects, forced reliance on PV did not compromise ability to achieve a functional grasp and recover equilibrium, for the moderately large perturbations and healthy young adults tested in this initial study.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by an operating grant (#MOP-13355) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), awarded to B.E.M. E.C.K. held scholarships from CIHR, the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and the University of Toronto (Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and the Vision Science Research Program). K.C.C. held scholarships from the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Toronto (Vision Science Research Program). S.M.M. held a summer internship award from the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation and a CIHR Strategic Training Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Health Care, Technology and Place. Assistance from Aaron Marquis is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Studies in Aging, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Emily C. King, Sandra M. McKay, Kenneth C. Cheng & Brian E. Maki

  2. Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Enginering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Emily C. King & Brian E. Maki

  3. Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Emily C. King & Brian E. Maki

  4. Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Kenneth C. Cheng & Brian E. Maki

  5. Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Brian E. Maki

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  1. Emily C. King
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Correspondence to Brian E. Maki.

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King, E.C., McKay, S.M., Cheng, K.C. et al. The use of peripheral vision to guide perturbation-evoked reach-to-grasp balance-recovery reactions. Exp Brain Res 207, 105–118 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2434-9

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