Task requirements influence sensory integration during grasping in humans.

Full Abstract

The sensorimotor transformations necessary for generating appropriate motor commands depend on both current and previously acquired sensory information. To investigate the relative impact (or weighting) of visual and haptic information about object size during grasping movements, we let normal subjects perform a task in which, unbeknownst to the subjects, the object seen (visual object) and the object grasped (haptic object) were never the same physically. When the haptic object abruptly became larger or smaller than the visual object, subjects in the following trials automatically adapted their maximum grip aperture when reaching for the object. This adaptation was not dependent on conscious processes. We analyzed how visual and haptic information were weighted during the course of sensorimotor adaptation. The adaptation process was quicker and relied more on haptic information when the haptic objects increased in size than when they decreased in size. As such, sensory weighting seemed to be molded to avoid prehension error. We conclude from these results that the impact of a specific source of sensory information on the sensorimotor transformation is regulated to satisfy task requirements.

Author information

Author/s: Säfström, Daniel (D); Edin, Benoni B (BB);

Affiliation: Physiology Section, Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) (Learn Mem), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2004 May-Jun; vol 11 (issue 3) : pp 356-63

Dates: Created 2004/05/31; Completed 2004/08/25; Revised 2008/11/20;

PMID: 15169866, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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