title: Alternating Adaptation of Eye and Hand Movements to Opposite Directed Double Steps.
abstract: Eye and hand movements can adapt to a variety of sensorimotor discordances. Studies on adaptation of movement directions suggest that the oculomotor and the hand motor system access the same adaptive mechanism related to the polarity of a discordance, because concurrent adaptations to opposite directed discordances strongly interfere. The authors scrutinized whether participants adapt their hand and eye movements to opposite directions (clockwise/counterclockwise) when both motor systems are alternatingly exposed to opposite directed double steps, and whether such adaptation is influenced by the allocation of effector to adaptation direction. The results showed that hand and eye movements adapted to opposite directions, but adaptation was biased to the counterclockwise direction. Aftereffects emerged nearly unbiased and independently for both motor systems. The authors conclude that the oculomotor and the hand motor system use independent mechanisms when they adapt to opposite polarities, although they interact during adaptation or concurrent performance.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Sports Science, Leibniz University of Hannover , Germany.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: b Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences , Sofia.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grigorova
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adaptation; efference copy; hand; saccadic eye movements