A central source of movement variability. Export

@article{citeulike:1008677, abstract = {Movements are universally, sometimes frustratingly, variable. When such variability causes error, we typically assume that something went wrong during the movement. The same assumption is made by recent and influential models of motor control. These posit that the principal limit on repeatable performance is neuromuscular noise that corrupts movement as it occurs. An alternative hypothesis is that movement variability arises before movements begin, during motor preparation. We examined this possibility directly by recording the preparatory activity of single cortical neurons during a highly practiced reach task. Small variations in preparatory neural activity were predictive of small variations in the upcoming reach. Effect magnitudes were such that at least half of the observed movement variability likely had its source during motor preparation. Thus, even for a highly practiced task, the ability to repeatedly plan the same movement limits our ability to repeatedly execute the same movement.}, address = {Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305; Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305.}, author = {Churchland, M. M. and Afshar, A. and Shenoy, K. V.}, citeulike-article-id = {1008677}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2006.10.034}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17178410}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=17178410}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WSS-4MM8TWC-H/2/884ece4b1f6c96970fcfcbf46a0d3dbf}, day = {21}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2006.10.034}, issn = {0896-6273}, journal = {Neuron}, keywords = {behavior, movement-science, musculoskeletal\_systems, neuro-mechanics, neuro-timing, reviews}, month = {December}, number = {6}, pages = {1085--1096}, posted-at = {2008-12-21 06:08:39}, priority = {2}, title = {A central source of movement variability.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2006.10.034}, volume = {52}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1008677 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1008677 N2 - Movements are universally, sometimes frustratingly, variable. When such variability causes error, we typically assume that something went wrong during the movement. The same assumption is made by recent and influential models of motor control. These posit that the principal limit on repeatable performance is neuromuscular noise that corrupts movement as it occurs. An alternative hypothesis is that movement variability arises before movements begin, during motor preparation. We examined this possibility directly by recording the preparatory activity of single cortical neurons during a highly practiced reach task. Small variations in preparatory neural activity were predictive of small variations in the upcoming reach. Effect magnitudes were such that at least half of the observed movement variability likely had its source during motor preparation. Thus, even for a highly practiced task, the ability to repeatedly plan the same movement limits our ability to repeatedly execute the same movement. IS - 6 JF - Neuron SN - 0896-6273 AD - Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305; Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. EP - 1096 TI - A central source of movement variability. VL - 52 SP - 1085 KW - behavior KW - movement-science KW - musculoskeletal_systems KW - neuro-mechanics KW - neuro-timing KW - reviews AU - Churchland, MM AU - Afshar, A AU - Shenoy, KV PY - 2006/12/21/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2006.10.034 ER -