A control policy can be adapted to task demands during both motor execution and motor planning
(2025) Journal of Neurophysiology — Vol. 133, n° 1, p. 232-244 (2025)
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- Authors
Orban de Xivry, Jean-Jacques 
Hardwick, Robert M.
- Abstract
- Movement planning consists of several processes related to the preparation of a movement such as decision making, target selection, application of task demands, action selection, and specification of movement kinematics. These numerous processes are reflected in the reaction time, which is the time that it takes to start executing the movement. However, not all the processes that lead to motor planning increase reaction time. In this paper, we wanted to test whether tuning the control policy to task demands contributes to reaction time. Taking into account that the tuning of the control policy differs for narrow and wide targets, we used a timed response paradigm to track the amount of time needed to tune the control policy appropriately to task demands. We discovered that it does not take any time during motor planning and even that it can occur indistinguishably during motor planning or during motor execution. That is, the tuning the control policy was equally good when the narrow or wide target was displayed before than when it was displayed after the start of the movement. These results suggest that the frontier between motor planning and execution is not as clear cut as it is often depicted.
- Affiliations
Citations
Orban de Xivry, J.-J., & Hardwick, R. M. (2025). A control policy can be adapted to task demands during both motor execution and motor planning. Journal of Neurophysiology, 133(1), 232-244. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00410.2023 (Original work published 2025)