Temporal representation in the control of movement

Abstract

Theories of the representation of specific kinetic and spatiotem-poral features of movement range from the explicit assertion that temporal aspects of movement are not represented (Kugler et al. 1980) to the idea that they are represented and that they have neurophysiological correlates (Ivry & Corcos 1993; Ivry & Keele 1989). Jeannerod's thesis is that mental and visual images have common mechanisms and that there is a link between the image to move and the mechanisms involved with movement. The target article takes the position that certain parameters are coded in motor representations (sect. 4) but that the duration of an action is not one of them. This position is based on the work of Gottlieb et al. (1989b) and of Decety et al. (1989). Both these studies are worth considering in detail. In Note 1, Jeannerod suggests that: “in time-constrained tasks subjects control the amplitude parameter of force impulses, whereas in spatially constrained tasks the duration of the force impulse is affected by accuracy demands.” This is not exactly correct. Excitation pulse intensity (amplitude) is modulated both in tasks that require spatial and those that require temporal accuracy. Excitation pulse duration is modulated for changes in movement distance and inertial load. If subjects are required to be very accurate spatially, they will move at less than maximum speed for a given distance and this is achieved by lower levels of excitation intensity (Gottlieb et al. 1990).