Proprioceptive control of cyclical bimanual forearm movements across different movement frequencies as revealed by means of tendon vibration

The effect of unilateral tendon vibration on the performance of cyclical bi manual forearm movements was investigated across different cycling frequenc ies (from 0.67 to 2.53 Hz). The spatiotemporal features of the individual l imb motions as well as their coordination were studied. Tendon vibration wa s found to result in a substantial reduction in the amplitude of the vibrat ed arm, leaving the nonvibrated arm unaffected. The vibration-induced ampli tude reduction decreased from 26% to 11% as cycling frequency increased eve n though significant reductions were still observed at the highest cycling frequencies. Tendon vibration was also found to result in an increase of th e phase lead of the. dominant arm with respect to the nondominant arm, but this effect was not modulated by cycling frequency. The data argue in favor of a closed-loop mode of movement control during cyclical high-speed movem ents. It is suggested that kinesthetic afferent information is processed an d used to guide action up to near-maximal movement speeds, reinforcing rece nt claims with respect to visual information processing.