Sensory and Perceptual Contributions to the Preparation and Execution of Goal-Directed Action

例如，假设我伸手去拍桌子上的一只苍蝇，却没拍到。如果我再次尝试，我可以使用什么类型的错误信号来更新和调整我的下一次尝试？我对错误信号的意识是否会影响我对错误来源的看法——例如，我错过了是因为苍蝇移动还是我触碰到了错误？如果我不注意的时候，苍蝇落在了我的手背上，会发生什么？不用看，我怎么能轻易地分辨苍蝇落在哪只手上呢？我的手的位置如何影响我找到苍蝇的速度？如果我决定，还是不看，试着用另一只手拍苍蝇，我对我的手（上面有苍蝇）在空间中的位置的感觉有多准确？我用什么信息来计划我的手拍苍蝇，我能多快做出决定？拟议的研究旨在解决这些类型的问题。我们的大脑和感觉运动系统的适应能力——检测和纠正运动错误，改进我们的行动，适应环境和/或神经肌肉系统不断变化的条件——对行动和与世界互动很重要。本研究计划的长期目标是更好地理解在目标导向行为的准备和控制中，感觉和知觉运动的作用机制。我试图理解在面对感官/知觉环境和/或效应机制的系统扰动时，控制和适应目标导向运动的原则。

Consider, for instance, that I reach to swat a fly on my desk and miss it. If I try again, what type of error signal can I use to update and adjust my next attempt? Does my awareness of the error signal influence what I think is the source of the error - for example, did I miss because the fly moved or I made a error in my reach? What happens if, while I'm not looking, the fly lands on the back of my hand? How easily can I tell, without looking, which hand the fly has landed on? How will the location of my hand affect how quickly I can locate the fly? If I decide, again without looking, to try and swat the fly with my other hand, how accurate is my sense of where my hand (with the fly on it) is in space? What information do I use to plan my reach to swat the fly, and how quickly can I make my decision? The proposed research is designed to address these types of questions. The capacity of our brain and sensorimotor system to adapt - to detect and correct movement error, to refine our actions and adjust to changing conditions in the environment and/or neuromuscular system - is important to act upon and interact with the world. The long-term objective of this research program is to better understand the mechanisms underlying the sensory and perceptual-motor contributions to the preparation and control of goal-directed actions. I seek to understand the principles that govern the control and adaptation of goal-directed movements in the face of systematic perturbations to the sensory/perceptual environment and/or the effector machinery.