Reach Corrections Toward Moving Objects are Faster Than Reach Corrections Toward Instantaneously Switching Targets

guided reaching is a common motor behavior that engages subcortical circuits to mediate rapid corrections. Although these neural mechanisms have evolved for interacting with the physical world, they are often studied in the context of reaching toward virtual targets on a screen. These targets often change posi-tion by disappearing from one place reappearing in another instantaneously. In this study, we instructed partic-ipants to perform rapid reaches to physical objects that changed position in different ways. In one condition, the objects moved very rapidly from one place to another. In the other condition, illuminated targets instantaneously switched position by being extinguished in one position and illuminating in another. Participants were consis-tently faster in correcting their reach trajectories when the object moved continuously.& COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Pub-lished by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Guided reaching is a motor behavior that uses subcortical circuits to make rapid corrections. This study investigates participants' performance in reaching physical objects that changed position in different ways, either by continuous movement or instantaneous switching. The results show that participants were consistently faster in correcting their reach trajectories when the object moved continuously.