Facilitation of Nonpreferred Coordination Patterns During the Transition from Discrete to Continuous Movements

• Published in: Motor control 2011-10, Vol.15 (4), p.456-480
• Main Authors: Kostrubiec, Viviane, Soppelsa, Régis, Albaret, Jean-Michel, Zanone, Pier-Giorgio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Motor ability
• ISSN: 1087-1640; 1543-2696
• DOI: 10.1123/mcj.15.4.456

This study investigates how motor coordination undergoes the passage from a discrete to a continuous movement régime. Participants repeated concatenated discrete movements with each hand such that one hand was lagging the other by a quarter of a cycle (i.e., with a 90° phase difference). As movement frequency increased, the tendency to persist in this relative phase competed with a progressive effect of the interlimb coupling favoring 0° and 180°. In 61% of the participants, a switch from a discrete to a continuous motion régime was accompanied by a shift toward the 0° or 180°. The 0° was more often favored than 180°. The remaining participants sustained a relative phase close to 90° even at the highest movement frequency and proved to be more accurate at the initial lowest frequency. These findings indicate that a priming effect may circumvent the tendency to produce preferred patterns and favor the production of nonpreferred patterns and that initial individual differences affect how motor coordination evolves with changing constraints.