Motor Control

On the relation between action selection and movement control in 5- to 9-month-old infants

by Margot van Wermeskerken

End-point trajectory matching as a method for teaching kicking skills

by Daniel Eaves

Hodges NJ, Hayes SJ, Eaves DL, Horn R, Williams AM (2006)

Published in 'International Journal of Sports Psychology'

The aim in this experiment was to determine whether demonstrations that focus on end-point related information, in... more The aim in this experiment was to determine whether demonstrations that focus on end-point related information, in this case, ball-trajectory information (BALL), are more effective in teaching motor skills than more traditional demonstrations which focus on movement technique (BODY). Nineteen participants with low-level soccer experience practised a left-footed, soccer-chip shot, which required them to land a ball on a target, while clearing a height barrier. Information concerning how to achieve the task goal was manipulated. Participants either received demonstrations of an expert performing the skill (i.e., BODY, n = 10) or they received a demonstration of the expert's ball flight path (BALL, n = 9). The participants were asked to match the criterion flight or form to achieve the task goal. Feedback concerning ball flight and movement form was controlled, although all participants received KR. Trials were videotaped for analyses and feedback and movement kinematics were collected using 3D cameras on a selection of trials. Both groups improved during acquisition although there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of outcome attainment (i.e., height success and radial error). In retention, the BALL group showed more accurate performance relative to the BODY group, when demonstrations and feedback were withheld. Only in acquisition were any differences between the two groups noted in terms of movement kinematics. The BODY group showed a closer approximation to the model in terms of how various joint displacement angles were obtained (but not the actual angles) in comparison to the BALL group. These results provide initial evidence to support the use of end-point template matching strategies for teaching complex movement skills, such as those common in sports which require the accurate displacement of some external object (such as a ball or disc).

The Short-Term Effects of Real-Time Virtual Reality Feedback on Motor Learning in Dance

by Daniel Eaves

Energetic Costs of Incidental Visual Coupling during Treadmill Running

by Daniel Eaves

Magnitude and structure of isometric force variability: mechanical and neurophysiological influences

by S. Lee Hong

Artificial neural networks for analyzing inter-limb coordination: the golf chip shot

by Peter Lamb

Lamb, P. F., Bartlett, R., & Robins, A.
Human Movement Science. Volume 30, Pages 1129-1143, 2011.

Motor control research relies on theories, such as coordination dynamics, adapted from physical sciences to explain... more Motor control research relies on theories, such as coordination dynamics, adapted from physical sciences to explain the emer- gence of coordinated movement in biological systems. Historically, many studies of coordination have involved inter-limb coordina- tion of relatively few degrees of freedom. This study looked at the high-dimensional inter-limb coordination used to perform the golf chip shot toward six different target distances. This study also introduces a visualization of high-dimensional coordination relevant within the coordination dynamics theoretical framework. A specific type of Artificial Neural Network (ANN), the Self- Organizing Map (SOM), was used for the analysis. In this study, the trajectory of consecutive best-matching nodes on the output map was used as a collective variable and subsequently fed into a second SOM which was used to create visualization of coordina- tion stability. The SOM trajectories showed changes in coordina- tion between movement patterns used for short chip shots and movement patterns used for long chip shots. The attractor dia- grams showed non-linear phase transitions for three out of four players. The methods used in this study may offer a solution for researchers from a coordination dynamics perspective who intend to use data obtained from discrete high-dimensional movements.

Rambling and Trembling in Response to Body Loading

by S. Lee Hong

Toward an integrated biomimetic model of reaching

by Daniele Caligiore

A reinforcement learning model of reaching integrating kinematic and dynamic control in a simulated arm robot

by Daniele Caligiore

Hierarchical reinforcement learning and central pattern generators for modeling the development of rhythmic manipulation skills

by Daniele Caligiore

Using Motor Babbling and Hebb Rules for Modeling the Development of Reaching with Obstacles and Grasping

by Daniele Caligiore

Functional organisation of the corticomotor projection to the hand in skilled racquet players.

by Alan Pearce

Pearce et al
Experimental Brain Research. 130 (2): 238-243. 2000.

Corticospinal adaptations and strength maintenance in the immobilized arm following 3 weeks unilateral strength training.

by Alan Pearce

Pearce et al.
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport (In Press)
DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2012.01453.x

The goal trumps the means: Alignment of goals is more beneficial than alignment of means in means-end training

by Sarah Gerson

Involvement of the corticospinal tract in the control of human gait

by Michael Grey

Ultrasonography as a tool to study afferent feedback from the muscle-tendon complex during human walking

by Michael Grey

Contribution of afferent feedback and descending drive to human hopping

by Michael Grey

Afferent contribution to locomotor muscle activity during unconstrained overground human walking: an analysis of triceps surae muscle fascicles

by Michael Grey

Mechanical and neural stretch responses of the human soleus muscle at different walking speeds

by Michael Grey

Tibialis anterior stretch reflex in early stance is suppressed by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

by Michael Grey