title: The role of areas MT+/V5 and SPOC in spatial and temporal control of manual interception: an rTMS study.
abstract: Manual interception, such as catching or hitting an approaching ball, requires the hand to contact a moving object at the right location and at the right time. Many studies have examined the neural mechanisms underlying the spatial aspects of goal-directed reaching, but the neural basis of the spatial and temporal aspects of manual interception are largely unknown. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to investigate the role of the human middle temporal visual motion area (MT+/V5) and superior parieto-occipital cortex (SPOC) in the spatial and temporal control of manual interception. Participants were required to reach-to-intercept a downward moving visual target that followed an unpredictably curved trajectory, presented on a screen in the vertical plane. We found that rTMS to MT+/V5 influenced interceptive timing and positioning, whereas rTMS to SPOC only tended to increase the spatial variance in reach end points for selected target trajectories. These findings are consistent with theories arguing that distinct neural mechanisms contribute to spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal control of manual interception.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Vision Research, York University Toronto, ON, Canada ; Canadian Action and Perception Network Toronto, ON, Canada ; School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
authors.forename: Joost C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dessing
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vesia
authors.forename: J Douglas
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Crawford
keywords: MT+; SPOC; interception; rTMS; spatial behavior; timing of action