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Dynamics of human sensorimotor coordination: From behavior to brain activity

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Date Issued:
2000
Summary:
The dynamics of human sensorimotor coordination are studied at behavioral and neural levels through temporal synchronization and syncopation tasks. In experiment 1, subjects synchronized their finger movements (in-phase) with a metronome at 2.0Hz and 1.25Hz for 1200 cycles. Fluctuations of timing errors were analyzed through correlation, power spectrum analyses and Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE). Results indicated that the synchronization error time series was characterized by a 1/falpha type of long memory process with alpha = 0.5. Previous timing models based upon motor program or simple "central clock" ideas were reviewed to show that they could not explain such long range correlations in the synchronization task. To explore the possible cognitive origins of long range correlation, experiment 2 required subjects to synchronize (on the beat) or syncopate (off the beat) to a metronome at 1Hz using different cognitive strategies. Timing fluctuations were again found to be 1/f alpha type, with alpha = 0.5 in synchronization and alpha = 0.8 in syncopation. When subjects employed a synchronization strategy to successfully syncopate, timing fluctuations shifted toward 1/f 0.5 type. This experiment indicated that the scaling exponent in timing fluctuations was related to task requirements and specific coordination strategies. Further, they suggest that the sources of such long memory originated from higher level cognitive processing in the human brain. Experiment 3 analyzed magnetoencephalography (MEG) data associated with synchronization and syncopation tasks. Brain oscillations at alpha (8--14Hz), beta (15--20Hz) and gamma (35--40Hz) frequency ranges were shown to correlate with different aspects of the coordination behavior. Specifically, through power and coherence analyses, alpha activity was linked to sensorimotor integration and "binding", beta activity was related to task requirements (synchronization or syncopation), and gamma activity was related to movement kinematics (trajectory). These results supported the idea that the 1/f alpha type of timing fluctuations originated from collective neural activities in the brain acting on multiple time scales.
Title: Dynamics of human sensorimotor coordination: From behavior to brain activity.
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Name(s): Chen, Yanqing
Florida Atlantic University, Degree Grantor
Ding, Mingzhou, Thesis Advisor
Kelso, J. A. Scott, Thesis Advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2000
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 164 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The dynamics of human sensorimotor coordination are studied at behavioral and neural levels through temporal synchronization and syncopation tasks. In experiment 1, subjects synchronized their finger movements (in-phase) with a metronome at 2.0Hz and 1.25Hz for 1200 cycles. Fluctuations of timing errors were analyzed through correlation, power spectrum analyses and Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE). Results indicated that the synchronization error time series was characterized by a 1/falpha type of long memory process with alpha = 0.5. Previous timing models based upon motor program or simple "central clock" ideas were reviewed to show that they could not explain such long range correlations in the synchronization task. To explore the possible cognitive origins of long range correlation, experiment 2 required subjects to synchronize (on the beat) or syncopate (off the beat) to a metronome at 1Hz using different cognitive strategies. Timing fluctuations were again found to be 1/f alpha type, with alpha = 0.5 in synchronization and alpha = 0.8 in syncopation. When subjects employed a synchronization strategy to successfully syncopate, timing fluctuations shifted toward 1/f 0.5 type. This experiment indicated that the scaling exponent in timing fluctuations was related to task requirements and specific coordination strategies. Further, they suggest that the sources of such long memory originated from higher level cognitive processing in the human brain. Experiment 3 analyzed magnetoencephalography (MEG) data associated with synchronization and syncopation tasks. Brain oscillations at alpha (8--14Hz), beta (15--20Hz) and gamma (35--40Hz) frequency ranges were shown to correlate with different aspects of the coordination behavior. Specifically, through power and coherence analyses, alpha activity was linked to sensorimotor integration and "binding", beta activity was related to task requirements (synchronization or syncopation), and gamma activity was related to movement kinematics (trajectory). These results supported the idea that the 1/f alpha type of timing fluctuations originated from collective neural activities in the brain acting on multiple time scales.
Identifier: 9780599874480 (isbn), 12649 (digitool), FADT12649 (IID), fau:9531 (fedora)
Note(s): Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2000.
Subject(s): Sensorimotor integration
Cognitive neuroscience
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12649
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.