Control and Coordination of Voluntary Arm Movements

Recent findings related to the control strategies underlying voluntary arm trajectory formation in monkeys will be presented. The respective roles of central preprogramming of movements and feedback modulation from peripheral sensory organs will be discussed. A computer simulation based on mathematical modelling and dynamic optimization of the motion will be presented which predicts observed behaviour within experimental error. The same analysis also predicts observed behaviour of monkeys and humans under widely varying task conditions. Applications to the control of prostheses and manipulators will be discussed.