Contribution of proprioception for calibrating and updating the motor space

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Bard ◽  
Michelle Fleury ◽  
Normand Teasdale ◽  
Jacques Paillard ◽  
Vincent Nougier
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Force Production ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Spatial Reference Frames ◽  
Proprioceptive Afferents ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Prismatic Adaptation ◽  
Central Level

The absence of muscular proprioception, whether at a segmental or at a central level, impairs performance in several ways. The contribution of proprioception to movement control and learning is not easily dissociated from that of other sources of sensory information (e.g., vision). Therefore, the rare clinical cases of extensive neuropathy, depriving the brain massively and permanently of its presumed main sources of dynamogenic information from skin and muscles, are of very special interest. Two such patients and controls were tested in experiments investigating (i) force production, (ii) amplitude coding, (iii) spatial reference frames in pointing, and (iv) prismatic adaptation. Overall, our results highlight the key role of proprioceptive afferents for calibrating the spatial motor frame of reference, and the powerful substitutive properties of the central nervous system.Key words: proprioception, deafferentation, space calibration, motor control.

scholarly journals Human cortical dynamics during full-body heading changes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Gramann ◽  
Friederike U. Hohlefeld ◽  
Lukas Gehrke ◽  
Marius Klug
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Orientation ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Cortical Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Reference Frames ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Visual Flow ◽  
Heading Direction ◽  
Full Body

AbstractThe retrosplenial complex (RSC) plays a crucial role in spatial orientation by computing heading direction and translating between distinct spatial reference frames based on multi-sensory information. While invasive studies allow investigating heading computation in moving animals, established non-invasive analyses of human brain dynamics are restricted to stationary setups. To investigate the role of the RSC in heading computation of actively moving humans, we used a Mobile Brain/Body Imaging approach synchronizing electroencephalography with motion capture and virtual reality. Data from physically rotating participants were contrasted with rotations based only on visual flow. During physical rotation, varying rotation velocities were accompanied by pronounced wide frequency band synchronization in RSC, the parietal and occipital cortices. In contrast, the visual flow rotation condition was associated with pronounced alpha band desynchronization, replicating previous findings in desktop navigation studies, and notably absent during physical rotation. These results suggest an involvement of the human RSC in heading computation based on visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive input and implicate revisiting traditional findings of alpha desynchronization in areas of the navigation network during spatial orientation in movement-restricted participants.

Modulation of cardiovascular control mechanisms and their interaction

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. B. Persson
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Control Element ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Severity Of Disease ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Specific Control ◽  
Central Level ◽  
Shed Light

It is generally held that the role of a specific control element can only be understood within its physiological environment. The reviewed studies make it clear that there is a potent interplay between locally produced substances such as adenosine, nitric oxide, prostaglandins, and various others all interacting with the central level of control. This can occur at central sites (e.g., nitric oxide in the brain) or in the periphery (e.g., neural influence on autoregulation). The interactions are more or less pronounced during specific physiological challenges. Furthermore, several of these interactions are altered under pathological circumstances, and in some cases, the interactions seem to maintain or even augment the severity of disease. When more than three parameters participate in an interaction, the resulting regulation may become extremely complex. If these parameters are nonlinearly coupled with each other, the only way to shed light onto the nature of control network is by treating it as a black box. With the use of spectral analysis or nonlinear methods, it is possible to disentangle the fundamental nature of the system in terms of the complexity and stability. Therefore, modern developments in cardiovascular physiology utilizing these techniques, some of which are derived from the "chaos theory," are reviewed.

Development of human spatial cognition in a three-dimensional world

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 556-556
Author(s):  
Kate A. Longstaffe ◽  
Bruce M. Hood ◽  
Iain D. Gilchrist
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Cognition ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Spatial Reference ◽  
Spatial Reference Frames

AbstractJeffery et al. accurately identify the importance of developing an understanding of spatial reference frames in a three-dimensional world. We examine human spatial cognition via a unique paradigm that investigates the role of saliency and adjusting reference frames. This includes work with adults, typically developing children, and children who develop non-typically (e.g., those with autism).

The Role of Online Visual Feedback for the Control of Target-Directed and Allocentric Hand Movements

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 846-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lore Thaler ◽  
Melvyn A. Goodale
Keyword(s):  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Sensorimotor Control ◽  
Hand Movements ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Target Locations

Studies that have investigated how sensory feedback about the moving hand is used to control hand movements have relied on paradigms such as pointing or reaching that require subjects to acquire target locations. In the context of these target-directed tasks, it has been found repeatedly that the human sensory-motor system relies heavily on visual feedback to control the ongoing movement. This finding has been formalized within the framework of statistical optimality according to which different sources of sensory feedback are combined such as to minimize variance in sensory information during movement control. Importantly, however, many hand movements that people perform every day are not target-directed, but based on allocentric (object-centered) visual information. Examples of allocentric movements are gesture imitation, drawing, or copying. Here we tested if visual feedback about the moving hand is used in the same way to control target-directed and allocentric hand movements. The results show that visual feedback is used significantly more to reduce movement scatter in the target-directed as compared with the allocentric movement task. Furthermore, we found that differences in the use of visual feedback between target-directed and allocentric hand movements cannot be explained based on differences in uncertainty about the movement goal. We conclude that the role played by visual feedback for movement control is fundamentally different for target-directed and allocentric movements. The results suggest that current computational and neural models of sensorimotor control that are based entirely on data derived from target-directed paradigms have to be modified to accommodate performance in the allocentric tasks used in our experiments. As a consequence, the results cast doubt on the idea that models of sensorimotor control developed exclusively from data obtained in target-directed paradigms are also valid in the context of allocentric tasks, such as drawing, copying, or imitative gesturing, that characterize much of human behavior.

scholarly journals Genetic approaches to the investigation of serotonergic neuron functions in animals

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-455
Author(s):  
U. S. Drozd ◽  
E. V. Shaburova ◽  
N. N. Dygalo
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Serotonergic System ◽  
Serotonergic Neurons ◽  
Neurotransmitter Systems ◽  
New Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Serotonin System ◽  
The Brain

The serotonergic system is one of the most important neurotransmitter systems that take part in the regulation of vital CNS functions. The understanding of its mechanisms will help scientists create new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of mental and neurodegenerative diseases and find out how this neurotransmitter system interacts with other parts of the brain and regulates their activity. Since the serotonergic system anatomy and functionality are heterogeneous and complex, the best tools for studying them are based on manipulation of individual types of neurons without affecting neurons of other neurotransmitter systems. The selective cell control is possible due to the genetic determinism of their functions. Proteins that determine the uniqueness of the cell type are expressed under the regulation of cell-specific promoters. By using promoters that are specific for genes of the serotonin system, one can control the expression of a gene of interest in serotonergic neurons. Here we review approaches based on such promoters. The genetic models to be discussed in the article have already shed the light on the role of the serotonergic system in modulating behavior and processing sensory information. In particular, genetic knockouts of serotonin genes sert, pet1, and tph2 promoted the determination of their contribution to the development and functioning of the brain. In addition, the review describes inducible models that allow gene expression to be controlled at various developmental stages. Finally, the application of these genetic approaches in optogenetics and chemogenetics provided a new resource for studying the functions, discharge activity, and signal transduction of serotonergic neurons. Nevertheless, the advantages and limitations of the discussed genetic approaches should be taken into consideration in the course of creating models of pathological conditions and developing pharmacological treatments for their correction.

The Role of Spatial Reference Frames in Architecture

2004 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Werner ◽  
Laura E. Schindler
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Spatial Reference ◽  
Spatial Reference Frames

scholarly journals Embryonic Brain’s Spontaneous Activity Promote Synesthesia?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Shashi Kiran Reddy ◽  
Georg Northoff
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Spontaneous Activity ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Neural Connectivity ◽  
Neural Pathway ◽  
Sensory Maps ◽  
The Brain

Antón-Bolaños et al. (2019) report a newly identified neural pathway mechanism, where the patterned spontaneous activity regulates the excitability of a neural network essential for the formation and maintenance of functional sensory maps in the brain. Findings from the study suggest that the patterned spontaneous activity prevalent during the embryonic development of the brain; at the early stages of innervation to the cortex, contributes to the formation of these sensory maps. Synesthesia is a neural phenomenon caused by the unusual links between sensory information, where synesthetic subjects demonstrate atypical functional and neural connectivity caused by the differences in cortical wiring during brain development. So, based on the findings from Antón-Bolaños et al. (2019), one can anticipate the role of spontaneous activity in promoting synesthetic condition. Thus, it will be interesting to study, if the intrinsic spontaneous activity influences the differential cortical wiring and the formation of sensory maps in synesthesia.

A Spatial and Perspective Change Theory of the Difference Between Sympathy and Empathy

Paragrana ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Berthoz ◽  
Bérangère Thirioux
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Spatial Reference Frames ◽  
Perspective Change ◽  
Tight Rope ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Gender

AbstractEmpathy is a multicomponent faculty of the human brain which is funda-mental for social interactions.Understanding its behavioural, cognitive, emotional neural mechanisms and pathology is a major interdisciplinary challenge..Here we propose, in relation with a modern conception of the Philosophical tradition of Phenomenology and a primary role of cognitive embodiement, a new theory in which we give an important although not exclusive, role to the brain mechanisms which also are involved in spatial cognition: we show, that there is a basic difference between *sympathy* and *empathy*. Whether sympathy is akin to emotional contagion and does not require the siubject to adopt the point of view of others, empathy requires a dynamic and complex manipulation of spatial reference frames. We give an example of an experiment using virtual reality in which a subject interacts with an artificial tight rope walker and discuss also the possible interindividual differences, and gender differences, in the different strategies used by subjects to have an empathic relationship.

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