Summary
This study addresses the question as to the nature of the information on which the preactivation of the appropriate muscles in the grasping of the ball in a onehanded catching task is initiated and coordinated. High speed film and electromyograms were recorded while experiences subjects (N = 4) caught balls — projected towards them by a ball-machine at different speeds (11.9, 13.9 and 16.2 m/s — resulting in significantly different flight times of 508, 443 and 355 ms, respectively). Tau-margins (times to contact) values were calculated at the time of the initiation of the grasp movement for each subject at each speed. No significant differences were found between taumargins at different speeds. Further, the onset of the muscle activity for the initiation of the grasp movement was shown to be independent of ball speed. These findings lend support to the contention that the initiation of the grasp movement in catching is controlled and coordinated by the optical variable tau which specifies (directly) this time-to-contact. Given that the muscle group selected includes both flexors and extensors, co-activation on the basis of tau information is evidenced.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alderson GJK, Sully DL, Sully HG (1974) An operational analysis of one-handed catching task using high speed photography. J Motor Behav 6: 217–222
Dietz V, Noth J (1978) Pre-innervation and stretch responses of triceps brachii in man falling with and without visual control. Brain Res 142: 576–579
Dietz V, Noth J, Schmidtbleicher D (1981) Interaction between preactivity and stretch reflex in human triceps brachii during landing from forward falls. J Physiol 311: 113–125
Gibson JJ (1979) An ecological approach to visual perception. Hougton-Mifflin, Boston
Greenwood R, Hopkins A (1976) Muscle responses during sudden falls in man. J Physiol 254: 507–518
Lacquaniti F, Maioli C (1989a) The role of preparation in tuning anticipatory and reflex responses during catching. J Neurosci 9: 134–148
Lacquaniti F, Maioli C (1989b) Adaptation to suppression of visual information during catching. J Neurosci 9: 149–159
Lee DN (1976) A theory of visual control of braking based on information about time-to-collision. Perception 5: 437–459
Lee DN, Young DS, Reddish DE, Lough S, Clayton TMH (1983) Visual timing in hitting an accelerating ball. Q J Exp Psychol 35a: 333–346
Lee DN, Young DS (1985) Visual timing of interceptive actions. In: Ingle DJ, Jeannerod M, Lee DN (eds) Brain mechanisms and spatial vision. Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht, pp 1–30
Mcleod P, McLaughlin C, Nimmo-Smith I (1986) Information encapsulation and automaticity: Evidence from the visual control of finely-timed actions In: Posner E, Malin O (eds) Attention and performance XI. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 391–406
McMinn RMH, Hutchings RT (1977) A colour atlas of human anatomy. Wolfe medical Publications, London
Savelsbergh GJP, Whiting HTA, Bootsma RJ (1991) Grasping “Tau”. J Exp Psychol: HPP 17: 315–322
Savelsbergh GJP, Whiting HTA, Pijpers RJ (1992) The control of catching. In: Summers JJ (eds) Approaches to the study of motor control and learning. North Holland, Amsterdam
Sharp RH, Whiting HTA (1974) Exposed and occluded duration effects in a ball-catching skill. J Motor Behav 3: 139–147
Sidaway B, McNitt-Gray J, Davis G (1989) Visual timing of muscle preactivation in preparation for landing. Ecolog Psychol 1: 253–264
Whiting HTA (1967) Visuo-motor coordination. Unpublished Ph. D Thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Leeds
Zipp P (1982) Recommendations for the standardization of lead positions in surface electromyography. Eur J Appl Physiol 50: 41–54
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Savelsbergh, G.J.P., Whiting, H.T.A., Burden, A.M. et al. The role of predictive visual temporal information in the coordination of muscle activity in catching. Exp Brain Res 89, 223–228 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229019
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229019