title: Interactions between dorsal and ventral streams for controlling skilled grasp.
abstract: The two visual systems hypothesis suggests processing of visual information into two distinct routes in the brain: a dorsal stream for the control of actions and a ventral stream for the identification of objects. Recently, increasing evidence has shown that the dorsal and ventral streams are not strictly independent, but do interact with each other. In this paper, we argue that the interactions between dorsal and ventral streams are important for controlling complex object-oriented hand movements, especially skilled grasp. Anatomical studies have reported the existence of direct connections between dorsal and ventral stream areas. These physiological interconnections appear to be gradually more active as the precision demands of the grasp become higher. It is hypothesised that the dorsal stream needs to retrieve detailed information about object identity, stored in ventral stream areas, when the object properties require complex fine-tuning of the grasp. In turn, the ventral stream might receive up to date grasp-related information from dorsal stream areas to refine the object internal representation. Future research will provide direct evidence for which specific areas of the two streams interact, the timing of their interactions and in which behavioural context they occur.
authors.affiliation: Motor Control Laboratory, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Biomedical Sciences Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: Vonne.vanPolanen@kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Vonne
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: van Polanen
authors.affiliation: Motor Control Laboratory, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Biomedical Sciences Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, WC1N 3BG London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: m.davare@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davare
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch; D014785:Vision, Ocular
keywords: Connectivity; Dorsal stream; Grasp; Hand; Haptics; Visual input