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Neuro-Behavioral Determinants of Interlimb Coordination pp 223–258Cite as

Behavioral Principles of Interlimb Coordination

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Abstract

Interference in interlimb coordination is informative with respect to the underlying mechanisms of coordination. A rather comprehensive functional model of bimanual interlimb coordination, in which it is assumed that interference between the limbs may emerge at different levels of motor control, i.e. motor programming and movement execution, was proposed by Spijkers and Heuer (1995). Central to this model is the hypothesis of transient crosstalk during programming of movement parameters in bimanual coordination tasks. A series of experiments is presented, providing support for the model. These studies are based on three prototypical movement tasks in which several movement variables were examined, such as movement amplitude, isometric force and movement direction. It is concluded that the distinction between an execution level and a programming level may not be sufficient to capture all phenomena of intermanual interactions and, therefore, a third “cognitive” level is needed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Psychologie, RWTH Aachen, Germany

    Will Spijkers

  2. Institut für Arbeitsphysiologie, Universität Dortmund, Germany

    Herbert Heuer

Authors
  1. Will Spijkers
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  2. Herbert Heuer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. K. U. Leuven, Belgium

    Stephan P. Swinnen

  2. K. U. Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Jacques Duysens

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Spijkers, W., Heuer, H. (2004). Behavioral Principles of Interlimb Coordination. In: Swinnen, S.P., Duysens, J. (eds) Neuro-Behavioral Determinants of Interlimb Coordination. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9056-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9056-3_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4777-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-9056-3

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