KINESTHETIC CONTROL OF TARGETED LIMB MOVEMENTS

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The long-term goal of this RCDA application is to enhance the P.I.'s ability to study the kinesthetic control of targeted limb movements. Past research in this area of motor control has been hampered by the following problems: 1) current experimental techniques for stimulating kinesthetic receptors during limb movement are limited, 2) chronic monkey paradigms for investigating kinesthetic mechanisms at the neural level have been underutilized, and 3) a conceptual framework for investigating putative kinesthetic mechanisms does not exist. The research proposed in this RCDA application will allow the P.I. to develop his research expertise so that he can address these 3 problems. The specific aims of this RCDA application address the need for new experimental methods and a conceptual framework for studying the kinesthetic control of targeted limb movements. Specific Aim 1 addresses the need to develop the technique of tendon vibration in humans so that vibration can be used to elicit quantitatively predictable changes in kinesthetic input. Specific Aim 2A addresses the need to use electrophysiological techniques in awake, behaving monkeys to identify the neural mechanisms underlying kinesthetic control. Specific Aims 2B, 3, and 4 will empirically test a conceptual framework in which the nervous system uses kinesthetic input to initially set and then adjust 3 spatial/temporal parameters of targeted limb movements: direction (2B), distance (3), and timing (4). By developing these techniques and framework,, it will be possible to answer important fundamental questions about the kinesthetic control of targeted limb movements that were previously beyond reach. These answers will also provide valuable insights into more applied problems of motor control: in areas such as motor development and aging, motor disorders, myoelectrical prostheses, and motor control by astronauts in outer space.