Multisensory control of action

伸手抓住一个物体代表着我们每天进行的一种运动活动，通常是在没有可察觉的努力或有意识的想法的情况下进行的。然而，即使是这个简单的动作也需要我们的中枢和外周神经系统内多种资源的微妙协调。此外，这些资源不断寻找新的和最佳的方法来提高我们运动的效率和效力。因此，与这笔赠款相关的项目试图了解有助于我们调节熟练动作能力的感觉、认知和运动机制。例如，来自我们视觉世界的哪些信息被用来控制伸手和抓取的动作，以及大脑的哪些区域处理这些信息？人眼的解剖特性会影响视觉空间不同区域的快速而准确的运动吗？我们对身体位置的感觉如何有助于成功地规划和控制熟练的动作？最终，对上述问题的回答可以帮助工程师设计最佳的人机界面，并可以为开发绕过与后天和发育性运动障碍相关的运动困难的干预程序提供必要的知识基础。

Reaching to grasp an object represents a motor activity we perform on a daily basis usually without perceivable effort or conscious thought. However, even this simple action requires the delicate coordination of multiple resources within our central and peripheral nervous systems. Moreover, these resources continually seek out new and optimal ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our movements. Hence, the projects associated with this grant seek to understand the sensory, cognitive and motor mechanisms that contribute to our ability to regulate skilled actions. For example, what information from our visual world is used to control reaching and grasping movements, and what regions of the brain process this information? Do anatomical properties of the human eye impact the production of fast and accurate movements to different regions of visual space? How does our sense of body position contribute to the successful planning and control of skilled movement? Ultimately, answers to the aforementioned questions may assist engineers in the design of optimal human-machine interfaces and may provide the requisite knowledge-base for the development of intervention programs circumventing movement difficulties associated with acquired and developmental movement disorders.