Contributions of efference copy to limb localization: Evidence from deafferentation

Previous research with deafferented subjects suggests that efference copy can be used to update limb position. However, the contributions of efference copy to limb localization are currently unclear. We examined the performance of JDY, a woman with severe, longstanding proprioceptive deficits from a sensory peripheral neuropathy, on a reaching task to explore the contribution of efference copy to trajectory control. JDY and eight healthy controls reached without visual feedback to a target that either remained stationary or jumped to a second location after movement initiation. JDY consistently made hypermetric movements to the final target, exhibiting significant problems with amplitude control. Despite this amplitude control deficit, JDY's performance on jump trials showed that the angle of movement correction (angle between pre- and post-correction movement segments) was significantly correlated with the distance (but not time) of movement from start to turn point. These data suggest that despite an absence of proprioceptive and visual information regarding hand location, JDY derived information about movement distance that informed her movement correction on jump trials. The same type of information that permitted her to correct movement direction on-line, however, was not available for control of final arm position. We propose that efference copy can provide a consistent estimate of limb position that becomes less informative over the course of the movement. We discuss the implications of these data for current models of motor control.

Research highlights
► Deafferented case study (JDY) makes hypermetric movements on double jump task.
► However, deafferented subject makes accurate turns on same task.
► Suggests that information from efference copy informs beginning of movement.
► Efference copy decays over time – leads to hypermetric movements.