Spatial perturbations in a finger-tapping task

LÓPEZ, SABRINA L.; LAJE, RODRIGO

Mar del Plata

Congreso; XXX CONGRESO ANUAL DE LA SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE INVESTIGACION EN NEUROCIENCIAS; 2015

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

Finger tapping is a paradigmatic task to study sensorimotor synchronization. In this task the subject must tap with his finger in synchrony with a periodic sequence of brief tones, as in keeping pace with music. The temporal differences (asynchronies) between the occurrence time of every stimulus and the occurrence time of the corresponding responses are recorded. A usual experimental manipulation is the shortening or lengthening of the period of the sequence (tempo change). In this work we make a novel perturbation: we change the spatial conditions of the task by changing the force field the finger is subjected to. Our aim is to characterize the motor adaptation behavior and to decide whether a purely temporal (spatial) perturbation has spatial (temporal) effects. Recent models of motor timing and motor production of spatiotemporal patterns propose that temporal and spatial aspects of a task in this time range (hundreds of milliseconds) are intrinsically coupled. Our long term aim i s to elucidate whether temporal and spatial components of the internal model of motor control are entangled or can be adjusted independently.