The kinematic signature of voluntary actions

NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA

卷:64

Article

Becchio, Cristina^1,2  Zanatto, Debora³  Straulino, Elisa³  Cavallo, Andrea²  Sartori, Giuseppe^3,4  Castiello, Umberto^3,4 

[1] Ist Italian Tecnol, Genoa, Italy

[2] Univ Turin, Dept Psychol, Ctr Cognit Sci, Turin, Italy

[3] Univ Padua, Dipartimento Psicol Gen, I-35131 Padua, Italy

[4] Univ Padua, Ctr Cognit Neurosci, I-35131 Padua, Italy

关键词: Voluntary actions;    Stimulus-driven actions;    Kinematics;    Reach-to-grasp;    Motor control;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.09.033

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Research in the field of psychology and cognitive neuroscience has begun to explore the functional underpinnings of voluntary actions and how they differ from stimulus-driven actions. From these studies one can conclude that the two action modes differ with respect to their neural and behavioural correlates. So far, however, no study has investigated whether the voluntary and stimulus-driven actions also differ in terms of motor programming. We report two experiments in which participants had to perform either voluntary or stimulus-driven reach-to-grasp actions upon the same stimulus. Using kinematic methods, in Experiment 1 we obtained evidence that voluntary actions and stimulus-driven actions translate into differential movement patterns. Results for Experiments 2 suggest that selecting what to do, when to act, and whether to act are characterized by specific kinematic signatures and affect different aspects of the reach-to-grasp movement in a selective fashion. These findings add to current models of volition suggesting that voluntary action control results from an interplay of dissociable subfunctions related to specific decision components: what action execute, when to execute an action, and whether to execute any action. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free