Temporal capacity of short-term visuomotor memory in continuous force production

The focus of this article is on the temporal capacity of short-term visuomotor memory as reflected by changes in the time and frequency patterns of force output. In experiment 1, subjects produced continuous force output (isometric index finger flexion) to a target force level (from 5 to 75% of maximum voluntary contraction, MVC) displayed on a video monitor for 20 s. In the full visual feedback condition, visual feedback was displayed throughout each trial, while, for the visual feedback-withdrawal condition, visual feedback was occluded for the final 12 s of each trial. With visual feedback present, subjects matched their force output to the target force level for 20 s. When visual feedback was removed, participants continued to match the target force level for approximately 0.5–1.5 s; thereafter force output decayed exponentially. In line with this decay, short time-frequency analysis revealed a decrease in force intensity in the 0- to 5-Hz band. Force level did not influence the time before decay; however, greater forces led to larger decay. Experiment 2 assessed whether the force decay in experiment 1 was a property of visual or motor short-term memory by having participants set their own target force levels with no visual information provided throughout. In agreement with the findings of experiment 1, force output decayed, emphasizing the importance of a motor memory source. It is concluded that the 0.5- to 1.5-s time period represents a limit on the temporal capacity that precise visuomotor information is held in short-term memory.

[1]  R. Elble,et al.  Motor-unit activity responsible for 8- to 12-Hz component of human physiological finger tremor. , 1976, Journal of neurophysiology.

[2]  J. Thomson.  Is continuous visual monitoring necessary in visually guided locomotion? , 1983, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[3]  Khaled H. Hamed,et al.  Time-frequency analysis , 2003 .

[4]  D. Wolpert,et al.  Internal models in the cerebellum , 1998, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[5]  F. Lacquaniti,et al.  Short-Term Memory for Reaching to Visual Targets: Psychophysical Evidence for Body-Centered Reference Frames , 1998, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[6]  G. Gottlieb,et al.  Strategies for the control of voluntary movements with one mechanical degree of freedom , 1989, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[7]  V. Dietz,et al.  Neuronal mechanisms underlying physiological tremor. , 1978, Journal of neurophysiology.

[8]  R. Miall,et al.  Intermittency in human manual tracking tasks. , 1993, Journal of motor behavior.

[9]  M F Bradshaw,et al.  The Effect of Pre-Movement Delays on Pointing Accuracy in Middle Childhood , 1998, Perception.

[10]  D. Elliott,et al.  The role of target information on manual-aiming bias , 1995, Psychological Research.

[11]  J. A. Adams,et al.  Short-term memory for motor responses. , 1966, Journal of experimental psychology.

[12]  J. Gordon,et al.  Impairments of reaching movements in patients without proprioception. I. Spatial errors. , 1995, Journal of neurophysiology.

[13]  R. Miall,et al.  Task-dependent changes in visual feedback control: a frequency analysis of human manual tracking. , 1996, Journal of motor behavior.

[14]  P. Matthews.  MUSCLE SPINDLES AND THEIR MOTOR CONTROL. , 1964, Physiological reviews.

[15]  E. R. Crossman,et al.  Feedback Control of Hand-Movement and Fitts' Law , 1983, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[16]  K H Mauritz,et al.  Motor deficits in patients with large-fiber sensory neuropathy. , 1984, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  R. S. Johansson,et al.  Roles of glabrous skin receptors and sensorimotor memory in automatic control of precision grip when lifting rougher or more slippery objects , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[18]  M Gentilucci,et al.  Dissociation between perception and visuomotor transformation during reproduction of remembered distances. , 1994, Journal of neurophysiology.

[19]  Matthew Heath,et al.  The effect of a pictorial illusion on closed-loop and open-loop prehension , 2000, Experimental Brain Research.

[20]  D. Elliott.  Continuous visual information may be important after all: a failure to replicate Thomson (1983). , 1986, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[21]  D. Rosenbaum.  On choosing between movement sequences: comments on Rose (1988). , 1990 .

[22]  D. Rosenbaum.  On choosing between movement sequences: comments on Rose (1988). , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[23]  D. Elliott,et al.  The Influence of Premovement Visual Information on Manual Aiming , 1987, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[24]  L M Herman,et al.  Decay and interference effects in the short-term retention of a discrete motor act. , 1970, Journal of experimental psychology.

[25]  H. Freund,et al.  Invariant temporal characteristics of manipulative hand movements , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[26]  H. Freund,et al.  The role of basal ganglia in rhythmic movement. , 1993, Advances in neurology.

[27]  C Ghez,et al.  Roles of proprioceptive input in the programming of arm trajectories. , 1990, Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology.

[28]  J. Gordon,et al.  Impairments of reaching movements in patients without proprioception. II. Effects of visual information on accuracy. , 1995, Journal of neurophysiology.

[29]  K. Newell,et al.  Intermittency in the control of continuous force production. , 2000, Journal of neurophysiology.

[30]  J McIntyre,et al.  Reference frames and internal models for visuo-manual coordination: what can we learn from microgravity experiments? , 1998, Brain Research Reviews.

[31]  D. Wolpert,et al.  Is the cerebellum a smith predictor? , 1993, Journal of motor behavior.

[32]  R. Miall,et al.  Visuomotor tracking with delayed visual feedback , 1985, Neuroscience.

[33]  D. Sternad,et al.  Sinusoidal Visuomotor Tracking: Intermittent Servo-Control or Coupled Oscillations? , 2001, Journal of motor behavior.

[34]  C. Christakos,et al.  Occurrence of widespread motor-unit firing correlations in muscle contractions: their role in the generation of tremor and time-varying voluntary force. , 1999, Journal of neurophysiology.

[35]  S. Schäfer,et al.  Temperature effects on the discharge frequency of primary and secondary endings of isolated cat muscle spindles recorded under a ramp-and-hold stretch , 1999, Brain Research.

[36]  K. Newell,et al.  Intermittency in the visual control of force in Parkinson's disease , 2001, Experimental Brain Research.

[37]  R. Miall,et al.  Evidence of a limited visuo-motor memory used in programming wrist movements , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[38]  K. Newell,et al.  Visual control of isometric force in Parkinson's disease , 2001, Neuropsychologia.

[39]  K. J. Cole,et al.  Sensory-motor coordination during grasping and manipulative actions , 1992, Current Biology.

[40]  Dominic W. Massaro,et al.  Sensory and Perceptual Storage , 1996 .

[41]  J C Rothwell,et al.  Manual motor performance in a deafferented man. , 1982, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[42]  William J. Williams,et al.  Shift covariant time-frequency distributions of discrete signals , 1999, IEEE Trans. Signal Process..

[43]  Karl M. Newell,et al.  Regularity of force tremor in Parkinson's disease , 2001, Clinical Neurophysiology.