Our long-term aim is to achieve a deeper understanding of how the brain interacts with the environment to produce coordinated voluntary movement through the control of the peripheral, neuromuscular apparatus. This study continues our theoretical development of the rule-based model that we have proposed for control of voluntary limb movements. Our experiments proceed from the premise that the ultimate goal of any motor theory is to predict the behavior of measurable variables, not merely in terms of each other but in terms of the externally given definition of the movement task. The unifying theme of all the proposed experiments is to expand and validate the model as a basis for understanding how the central nervous system performs simple movements and continually adapts to ever changing tasks and environments. To this end, we propose experiments to study single-joint, flexion-extension movement at the elbow. We will examine kinematic, kinetic and myoelectrical changes brought on by different manipulations of the movement task. Two tasks examine dynamic changes in the patterns, brought on by behaviorally realistic task demands or fatigue. A third task examines the distinction between forward and backward internal models for dealing with external perturbations. The fourth task examines the postural aspects of the central commands and the relatively little studied aspects of how the CNS controls the transition from movement to posture.
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