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

总的来说，我的研究重点是来自不同感官的信息（例如，视觉，声音）如何影响我们如何准备和执行运动技能。在许多日常情况下，人类有必要对环境中的物体进行精确而有效的运动。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，视听多感官研究仅限于感知决策和简单的运动反应，如按键。多感觉-运动整合原理的系统探索是必要的，因为有文献记载的视觉信息在知觉任务和运动任务中的处理方式存在差异，同时也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，我的研究计划旨在建立一个模型来解释健康的年轻人如何整合视觉、听觉和本体感受信息来进行伸展运动。我将进行一系列实验，系统地操纵感知信息和任务需求。将使用三维运动分析（Optotrak 3D调查员，Northern Digital Inc., Waterloo, Ontario）来测量如何执行运动的详细分析。性能测量的分析，如反应时间，运动时间和运动精度，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重要的见解。我的研究将有助于确定听觉刺激在行动准备中的精确作用，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听觉刺激等替代反馈来源的使用。需要从拟议的工作路线中获得的发现来全面了解多感觉刺激对运动表现的作用。研究结果将改善个体在各种情况下学习执行复杂任务的方式，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.