Inter-joint synergies increase with motor task uncertainty in a whole-body pointing task

The study investigates the effect of task uncertainty on motor synergies and movement time for a whole-body pointing task employing a Fitts’ like paradigm. Thirty-three healthy, young adults were asked to hold a 1.5-m long stick and point it as quickly and accurately as possible to the unmarked center of fixed targets on the ceiling at 150% of the subject's height from the ground. Each subject performed fifteen continuous repetitions for each target size (1 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm, 5 cm, 8 cm, 13 cm and 21 cm diameters of circles). It was assumed that the task uncertainty increased as the target size increased. Motion capture was used to collect the data for joint angles in the sagittal plane and uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis was used in order to investigate synergistic actions of joints. Results from the study revealed that the movement time decreased as task uncertainty increased. The variability within the uncontrolled manifold (VUCM) systematically increased with task uncertainty, resulting in an increase in the index of inter-joint synergies (ΔV), although the pointing task errors (VORT) were consistent across different target sizes. The results suggest that the central nervous system systematically modulates the inter-joint synergies with task uncertainty in the whole-body pointing task without affecting motor performance.

► Subjects were asked to point with a stick at the center of different sizes of target repetitively.
► We calculated movement time and movement variability using UCM framework.
► The movement time and synergistic multi-joint actions increased with target size.
► The movement error did not change.
► The CNS systematically modulates inter-joint synergies with uncertainty of motor task.