Contribution of Retinal Motion to the Impulse Control of Target-Directed Aiming

Abstract Contemporary models of sensorimotor control contend that visually regulated movement adjustments may unfold early during a target-directed limb movement through an impulse control process that makes use of anticipatory forward models. To date, evidence surrounding impulse control has involved adjustments to a purported misperception in limb velocity following the unexpected onset of a moving background. That is, the limb is perceived to move faster and undershoots more when there is an incongruent moving background and vice versa. However, this particular behavior may manifest from an independent oculo-manual-following response. The present study aimed to deconstruct these proposals and, with them, the processes that underlie impulse control. Participants had to rapidly reach upward to land their index finger accurately on a target. On 33% of trials, the background, over which the movement was made, moved either up, down, right, or left. Displacements in the primary and perpendicular directions of movement showed spatial trajectories that were consistent with the directions of the moving backgrounds. This behavior was most prevalent in measurements taken at the movements’ peak negative acceleration and endpoints. Moreover, analysis of standardized displacements in the moving background conditions indicated no significant differences in the extent of the movements toward each of the moving backgrounds. These findings indicate that movement adjustments can manifest from an oculo-manual-following response rather than a misperception of limb velocity. We suggest that the anticipatory forward model that comprises impulse control may incorporate features of the environment that surround the vicinity of the limb.