CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL COORDINATION IN MOVEMENT SEQUENCES

Motor coordination has been too poorly defined to be a useful construc t in studying the control of movement. In general, motor coordination involves controlling both the timing and the kinematics of movement. Y et the motor behaviors typically used for the study of coordination ha ve required controlling only the timing or the spatial aspects of a mo vement. To understand better the basis of motor behavior, this study e xamined movement sequences, a class of movement in which both the timi ng and the kinematics must be controlled. In one experiment we studied a reaching and grasping movement sequence to characterize the central coordination of movement sequences. In another experiment we studied a throwing movement sequence to characterize the peripheral (kinesthet ic) coordination of movement sequences. An heuristic model is presente d to explain how central and peripheral mechanisms of coordination mig ht interact to produce accurate movement.