The purpose of this research was to investigate whether kinesthetic an
d proprioceptive perceptions of ''straight ahead'' were defined by a h
ead-or trunk-fixed axis. Subjects were instructed to align the forearm
with the head or trunk anterior-posterior (a/p) axis by elbow flexion
or extension in the horizontal plane in five different conditions. Ln
each condition the experimenter varied initial elbow and shoulder hor
izontal flexion or extension angles and head and/or trunk orientation
(by rotation about a vertical axis) on each trial before the subject m
oved the forearm to align it with the head or trunk axis. The upper li
mb motion was voluntarily constrained to the horizontal plane through
the shoulder. Variable errors were significantly lower when subjects a
ligned the forearm to the trunk-fixed a/p axis. Furthermore, the perce
ptual errors showed a greater dependence on body segment orientations
when the forearm was aligned to the head axis than to the trunk axis.
We conclude that the trunk a/p axis is preferred to the head a/p axis
for specifying upper limb segment orientations in the horizontal plane
at the kinesthetic perceptual level.