Eye-hand coordination: Effects of age, sex, and experience on brain and behaviour

眼手协调：年龄、性别和经验对大脑和行为的影响

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-05336
• 负责人: Sergio, Lauren
• 金额: $ 2.26万
• 依托单位: York University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=683866
• 关键词: Eye; hand; coordination; Effects; age

The broad aim of this research is to understand the fundamental neural mechanisms for controlling voluntary movement. The objectives are to characterize the age-, sex- and experience-related differences in both brain activity and behaviour for skilled visually-guided limb movements. Four related but distinct projects comprise this general line of inquiry. Project 1 will look at the age-, sex- and experience-related differences in skilled performance and cognitive motor integration, and the neural underpinnings to these differences. Our previous grant documented the effects of age, sex, and skill level on coordination development alone, and began looking at how the brain controls skilled movement when an element of cognition is included. We will build upon these findings by examining how such factors affect cognitive-motor integration a skill crucial to both daily living and many work/sport activities yet whose development has never been documented. Related to this study, we will also explore the neural mechanisms underlying the behavioral consequences of decoupling the spatial directions of eye and arm movements in elite and non-elite performers. This project will provide fundamental information about how the brain develops control for rule-based skilled movement differently as a function of sex and experience. Three further projects will provide insight into the nature of movement control in experts, as well as age and sex-related differences within these populations, using a more in-depth motor psychophysical approach. Project 2 will look at the mechanisms underlying augmented motor learning by comparing non-athletes to elite-level male and female athletes. In Project 3 we will continue our research into the neural underpinning of sex-related differences in brain networks for coordinated action. Our previous work has shown that there are sex-related differences in patterns of brain activity in the premotor and parietal cortices during eye-hand co-ordination tasks. However, there is currently only a very limited understanding of the functional significance of these different patterns of brain activity. Here we will examine the specific neurological processes that underlie observed sex-related differences in overall patterns of brain activity. Finally, we will examine how one can use different coordination measures to predict performance in elite athletes in competition. This line of inquiry will generate knowledge about brain and behaviour that can translate to the industrial (human factors engineering), biomedical engineering (telerobotic and medical equipment design), and professional sport training & coaching sectors. Fundamentally, this research will advance our understanding of how we interact with objects in the world around us.

这项研究的主要目的是了解控制自主运动的基本神经机制。目的是描述在熟练的视觉引导肢体运动中，大脑活动和行为的年龄、性别和经验相关的差异。四个相关但不同的项目构成了这条一般的研究路线。项目一将研究与年龄、性别和经验相关的技能表现和认知运动整合的差异，以及这些差异的神经基础。我们之前的资助仅记录了年龄、性别和技能水平对协调发展的影响，并开始研究当认知因素包括在内时，大脑如何控制熟练的运动。我们将以这些发现为基础，研究这些因素如何影响认知-运动整合。认知-运动整合是一项对日常生活和许多工作/体育活动至关重要的技能，但其发展从未被记录在案。在本研究中，我们还将探讨精英和非精英表演者眼睛和手臂运动空间方向解耦行为后果的神经机制。这个项目将提供关于大脑如何根据性别和经验对基于规则的熟练动作进行不同控制的基本信息。另外三个项目将使用更深入的运动心理物理学方法，深入了解专家运动控制的本质，以及这些人群中年龄和性别相关的差异。项目2将通过比较非运动员和精英水平的男女运动员来研究增强运动学习的机制。在项目3中，我们将继续研究大脑网络中协调行动的性别相关差异的神经基础。我们之前的研究表明，在手眼协调任务中，前运动皮层和顶叶皮层的大脑活动模式存在与性别相关的差异。然而，目前对这些不同的大脑活动模式的功能意义的理解非常有限。在这里，我们将研究特定的神经过程，这些过程是观察到的大脑活动总体模式中与性别相关的差异的基础。最后，我们将研究如何使用不同的协调措施来预测优秀运动员在比赛中的表现。这条调查线将产生关于大脑和行为的知识，可以转化为工业（人为因素工程），生物医学工程（遥控机器人和医疗设备设计），以及专业运动训练和教练部门。从根本上说，这项研究将促进我们对我们如何与周围世界的物体相互作用的理解。