Experts in fast-ball sports reduce anticipation timing cost by developing inhibitory control

The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between expertise in movement correction and rate of movement reprogramming within limited time periods, and to clarify the specific cognitive processes regarding superior reprogramming ability in experts. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in baseball experts (n=7) and novices (n=7) while they completed a predictive task. The task was to manually press a button to coincide with the arrival of a moving target. The target moved at a constant velocity, and its velocity was suddenly decreased in some trials. Under changed velocity conditions, the baseball experts showed significantly smaller timing errors and a higher rate of timing reprogramming than the novices. Moreover, ERPs in baseball experts revealed faster central negative deflection and augmented frontal positive deflection at 200ms (N200) and 300ms (Pd300) after target deceleration, respectively. Following this, peak latency of the next positive component in the central region (P300b) was delayed. The negative deflection at 200ms, augmented frontal positive deflection, and late positive deflection at 300ms have been interpreted as reflecting stimulus detection, motor inhibition, and stimulus-response translation processes. Taken together, these findings suggest that the experts have developed movement reprogramming to avoid anticipation cost, and this is characterized by quick detection of target velocity change, stronger inhibition of the planned, incorrect response, and update of the stimulus-response relationship in the changed environment.     

Miller (1944) revisited: Movement times in relation to approach and avoidance conflicts

Three experiments (total N = 291) sought to provide support for the idea that avoidance conflicts, relative to approach conflicts, are more difficult to motorically resolve. Conflicts were instantiated by asking individuals to approach desirable stimuli and avoid undesirable stimuli under conditions in which there was no objectively-correct direction of movement. To control for baseline movement speeds, non-conflict trials presented desirable (e.g., reward) and undesirable (e.g., threat) stimuli in the absence of any spatial conflict. In addition, movement times were isolated through the use of a joystick movement paradigm in which movement speeds were quantified subsequent to some initial tendency to move in one direction or the other. Consistent with hypotheses, all experiments found that movement times were slowed in the context of avoidance conflicts relative to approach conflicts. Results are discussed in terms of theories of motivation, affective processing, conflict, and anxiety.     

External communication of automated vehicles in mixed traffic: Addressing the right human interaction partner in multi-agent simulation

The urban traffic system is most likely to change in the next years to a mixed traffic with human drivers, vulnerable road users, and automated vehicles. In the past, the development of external communication approaches for automated vehicles focused on scenarios where an automated vehicle communicates with either a pedestrian or a human driver. However, interactions with more than one traffic partner are more realistic. Therefore, a study with 42 participants was conducted with a multi-agent simulation in which an automated vehicle interacted simultaneously with two participants, a pedestrian and a driver of a manual vehicle. In this study, two main scenarios were investigated in order to evaluate the safety and efficiency of the interactions and to determine whether the human road users feel correctly addressed. In one scenario, the pedestrian had to cross the road in front of the automated and the manual vehicle, which were approaching from different sides. In the other, the manual vehicle had to drive through a bottleneck in front of the oncoming automated vehicle, while the pedestrian had to cross the road after both vehicles passed. The communication approach of the automated vehicle consisted of implicit signals using a speed profile and lateral offset within its lane, and explicit signals using an external human–machine interface. The results of the study show that no collisions were observed in terms of safety and no significant negative effects on efficiency were measured. However, in contrast to single agent interactions, a majority of participants felt wrongly addressed in situations where the automated vehicle signals the right-of-way to the other human road user. It can be concluded that the communication approach of the automated vehicle needs to be modified in order to address certain road users more clearly.     

Reinforcer pathology,probabilistic choice,and medication adherence in patients with multiple sclerosis

The reinforcer pathology model posits that core behavioral economic mechanisms, including delay discounting and behavioral economic demand, underlie adverse health decisions and related clinical disorders. Extensions beyond substance use disorder and obesity, however, are limited. Using a reinforcer pathology framework, this study evaluates medical adherence decisions in patients with multiple sclerosis. Participants completed behavioral economic measures, including delay discounting, probability discounting, and a medication purchase task. A medical decision-making task was also used to evaluate how sensitivity to mild side effect risk and efficacy contributed to the likelihood of taking a hypothetical disease-modifying therapy. Less steep delay discounting and more intense (greater) medication demand were independently associated with greater adherence to the medication decision-making procedure. More generally, the pattern of interrelations between the medication-specific and general behavioral economic metrics was consistent with and contributes to the reinforcer pathology model. Additional research is warranted to expand these models to different populations and health behaviors, including those of a positive health orientation (i.e., medication adherence).     

Reprint of “Co-occurring motor,language and emotional–behavioral problems in children 3–6 years of age”

PurposeDevelopmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) has been shown to co-occur with behavioral and language problems in school-aged children, but little is known as to when these problems begin to emerge, or if they are inherent in children with DCD. The purpose of this study was to determine if deficits in language and emotional–behavioral problems are apparent in preschool-aged children with movement difficulties.MethodTwo hundred and fourteen children (mean age 4 years 11 months, SD 9.8 months, 103 male) performed the Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2nd Edition (MABC-2). Children falling at or below the 16th percentile were classified as being at risk for movement difficulties (MD risk). Auditory comprehension and expressive communication were examined using the Preschool Language Scales 4th Edition (PLS-4). Parent-reported emotional and behavioral problems were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).ResultsPreschool children with diminished motor coordination (n = 37) were found to have lower language scores, higher externalizing behaviors in the form of increased aggression, as well as increased withdrawn and other behavior symptoms compared with their typically developing peers.ConclusionsMotor coordination, language and emotional–behavioral difficulties tend to co-occur in young children aged 3–6 years. These results highlight the need for early intervention.     

Driving speed choice: The role of conscious monitoring and control (reinvestment) when driving

This study aimed to examine the role of reinvestment - the propensity to consciously monitor and control actions (movement specific reinvestment) and to consciously monitor and evaluate decision making processes (Decision specific reinvestment) while driving in everyday risky scenarios. The study also aimed to evaluate the association between reinvestment and previously validated driver attitude measures. Fifty one participants completed a series of questionnaires (Driving Self-Efficacy Scale, Driver Attitude Questionnaire, Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale, Decision Specific Reinvestment Scale) after which they completed a test phase in a driving simulator. In the test phase, driving scenarios included roads with different markings (i.e., double yellow, wide centrelines, wire rope barriers, Audio Tactile Profiled markings) and alerting scenarios (i.e., police car present, high crash risk area sign, reduced speed zone). Results revealed that on risky roads (wide centrelines), participants with a high propensity for decision specific reinvestment drove slower than those with a low propensity. Driver experience, attitudes towards speeding and scores on the Decision Reinvestment subscale of the Decision Specific Reinvestment Scale significantly predicted speed choice. More experienced participants with higher scores on the Decision Reinvestment subscale were more likely to drive slower and participants with worse attitudes towards speeding were likely to drive faster. Participants with a low propensity for movement specific reinvestment (specifically, Movement Self-Consciousness) reduced their speed to a greater extent than those with a high propensity when driving in the police car scenario. There was some evidence to suggest that high decision specific and movement specific reinvesters were more likely to be involved in crashes and receive driving infringements. The current study is the first to demonstrate a significant relationship between reinvestment and driving. The implications of these findings for road safety are discussed.     

Bernstein’s levels of movement construction: A contemporary perspective

Explanation of how goal-directed movements are made manifest is the ultimate aim of the field classically referred to as “motor control”. Essential to the sought-after explanation is comprehension of the supporting functional architecture. Seven decades ago, the Russian physiologist and movement scientist Nikolai A. Bernstein proposed a hierarchical model to explain the construction of movements. In his model, the levels of the hierarchy share a common language (i.e., they are commensurate) and perform complementing functions to bring about dexterous movements. The science of the control and coordination of movement in the phylum Craniata has made considerable progress in the intervening seven decades. The contemporary body of knowledge about each of Bernstein’s hypothesized functional levels is both more detailed and more sophisticated. A natural consequence of this progress, however, is the relatively independent theoretical development of a given level from the other levels. In this essay, we revisit each level of Bernstein’s hierarchy from the joint perspectives of (a) the ecological approach to perception-action and (b) dynamical systems theory. We review a substantial and relevant body of literature produced in different areas of study that are accommodated by this ecological-dynamical version of Bernstein’s levels. Implications for the control and coordination of movement and the challenges to producing a unified theory are discussed.     

A unified approach for revealing multiple balance recovery strategies

In human balance recovery, different strategies have been proposed with generally overlooked knee motions but extensive focus on the ankle, hip, and step strategies. It is not well understood whether maintaining balance is regulated at the lower “muscular–articular” level of coordinating segment joints or at a higher level of controlling whole body dynamics. Whether balance control is to minimize joint degrees of freedom (DOF) or utilize all the available DOF also remains unclear. This study aimed to use a realistic musculoskeletal human model to identify multiple balance recovery strategies with a single optimization criterion. Movements were driven by neural excitations (which activated muscle force generation) and were assumed to be symmetric. Balance recoveries were simulated with forward-inclined straight body postures as the initial conditions. When the position of the toes was fixed, balance was regained with virtually straight knees and mixed ankle/hip strategies. Under a severely perturbed condition, use of the forward hop strategy after releasing the fixed-toes constraint indicated spontaneous recruitment or suppression of DOF, which mimicked functions of optimally computed CNS commands in humans. The results also indicated that increase/decrease in the number of DOF depends on the imposed perturbation intensity and movement constraints.     

Personality traits and individual differences predict threat-induced changes in postural control

This study explored whether specific personality traits and individual differences could predict changes in postural control when presented with a height-induced postural threat. Eighty-two healthy young adults completed questionnaires to assess trait anxiety, trait movement reinvestment (conscious motor processing, movement self-consciousness), physical risk-taking, and previous experience with height-related activities. Tests of static (quiet standing) and anticipatory (rise to toes) postural control were completed under low and high postural threat conditions. Personality traits and individual differences significantly predicted height-induced changes in static, but not anticipatory postural control. Individuals less prone to taking physical risks were more likely to lean further away from the platform edge and sway at higher frequencies and smaller amplitudes. Individuals more prone to conscious motor processing were more likely to lean further away from the platform edge and sway at larger amplitudes. Individuals more self-conscious about their movement appearance were more likely to sway at smaller amplitudes. Evidence is also provided that relationships between physical risk-taking and changes in static postural control are mediated through changes in fear of falling and physiological arousal. Results from this study may have indirect implications for balance assessment and treatment; however, further work exploring these factors in patient populations is necessary.     

Co-occurring motor,language and emotional–behavioral problems in children 3–6 years of age

PurposeDevelopmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) has been shown to co-occur with behavioral and language problems in school-aged children, but little is known as to when these problems begin to emerge, or if they are inherent in children with DCD. The purpose of this study was to determine if deficits in language and emotional–behavioral problems are apparent in preschool-aged children with movement difficulties.MethodTwo hundred and fourteen children (mean age 4 years 11 months, SD 9.8 months, 103 male) performed the Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2nd Edition (MABC-2). Children falling at or below the 16th percentile were classified as being at risk for movement difficulties (MD risk). Auditory comprehension and expressive communication were examined using the Preschool Language Scales 4th Edition (PLS-4). Parent-reported emotional and behavioral problems were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).ResultsPreschool children with diminished motor coordination (n = 37) were found to have lower language scores, higher externalizing behaviors in the form of increased aggression, as well as increased withdrawn and other behavior symptoms compared with their typically developing peers.ConclusionsMotor coordination, language and emotional–behavioral difficulties tend to co-occur in young children aged 3–6 years. These results highlight the need for early intervention.