Multisensory-motor integration: the impact of sight and sound on reaching movements

总的来说，我的研究重点是不同感官(例如，视觉、声音)的信息如何影响我们准备和执行运动技能的方式。在许多日常情况下，人类需要对环境中的物体进行精确而高效的运动。关于视觉信息对运动规划和执行的效率和准确性的影响，有许多经典的和最近的例子。然而，到目前为止，视听多感官研究一直局限于知觉决定和简单的运动反应，如按键。需要系统地探索多感觉-运动整合的原理，因为视觉信息在知觉任务和运动任务中的处理方式存在着有案可查的差异，并且有可能改善任何正在学习运动技能的人的运动学习和表现。因此，我的研究项目试图开发一个模型来解释健康的年轻人如何整合视觉、听觉和本体感觉信息来执行伸展运动。我将进行一系列实验，在这些实验中，感知信息和任务要求被系统地操纵。如何执行动作的详细分析将使用三维运动分析(Optotrak 3D Investigator，Northern Digital Inc.，滑铁卢，安大略省)进行测量。对反应时间、运动时间和运动精确度等性能指标的分析，结合详细的轨迹分析，将为多感觉-运动整合的潜在过程提供至关重要的见解。我的研究将有助于确定听觉刺激在动作准备中扮演的确切角色，以及典型感觉系统(即视觉、本体感觉)准确性的变化如何影响其他反馈来源的使用，如听觉刺激。对多感官刺激对运动表现的作用的全面理解需要从拟议的工作系列中得出结论。这一结果将改善个人如何在广泛的环境中学习执行复杂任务，并增强神经损伤或疾病患者重新学习运动的方式。

Overall my research focuses on how information from different senses (e.g., sight, sound) impacts how we prepare and perform motor skills. In many everyday situations it is necessary for humans to perform precise and efficient movements to objects in the environment. There are many classic and recent examples of the influence of visual information on the efficiency and accuracy of movement planning and execution. However, to date audio-visual multisensory research has been limited to perceptual decisions and simple motor responses such as a key press. A systematic exploration of the principles for multisensory-motor integration is needed because of the documented differences in how visual information is processed for perceptual versus motor tasks as well as the potential to improve motor learning and performance for anyone who is learning a motor skill. Thus, my research program seeks to develop a model to explain how healthy young adults integrate visual, auditory and proprioceptive information to perform reaching movements. I will conduct a series of experiments in which the perceptual information and the task demands are manipulated systematically. Detailed analyses of how the movements are performed will be measured using three-dimensional motion analysis (Optotrak 3D Investigator, Northern Digital Inc., Waterloo, Ontario). Analysis of performance measures, such as reaction time, movement time and movement accuracy, in conjunction with detailed trajectory analyses, will provide crucial insights into the underlying processes for multisensory-motor integration. My research will help determine the precise role auditory stimuli play in action preparation, and how changes in the accuracy of the typical sensory systems (i.e., vision, proprioception) impact the use of alternative sources of feedback, such as auditory stimuli. The findings from the proposed line of work are needed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the role of multisensory stimuli for motor performance. The results will improve how individuals learn to perform complex tasks in a wide range of contexts and enhance how patients with a neurological injury or disease re-learn movements.