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Fu X, Franchak JM, MacNeill LA, Gunther KE, Borjon JI, Yurkovic-Harding J, Harding S, Bradshaw J, Pérez-Edgar KE. Implementing mobile eye tracking in psychological research: A practical guide. Behav Res Methods 2024:10.3758/s13428-024-02473-6. [PMID: 39147949 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-024-02473-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
Eye tracking provides direct, temporally and spatially sensitive measures of eye gaze. It can capture visual attention patterns from infancy through adulthood. However, commonly used screen-based eye tracking (SET) paradigms are limited in their depiction of how individuals process information as they interact with the environment in "real life". Mobile eye tracking (MET) records participant-perspective gaze in the context of active behavior. Recent technological developments in MET hardware enable researchers to capture egocentric vision as early as infancy and across the lifespan. However, challenges remain in MET data collection, processing, and analysis. The present paper aims to provide an introduction and practical guide to starting researchers in the field to facilitate the use of MET in psychological research with a wide range of age groups. First, we provide a general introduction to MET. Next, we briefly review MET studies in adults and children that provide new insights into attention and its roles in cognitive and socioemotional functioning. We then discuss technical issues relating to MET data collection and provide guidelines for data quality inspection, gaze annotations, data visualization, and statistical analyses. Lastly, we conclude by discussing the future directions of MET implementation. Open-source programs for MET data quality inspection, data visualization, and analysis are shared publicly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxue Fu
- Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - John M Franchak
- Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Leigha A MacNeill
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Kelley E Gunther
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Jeremy I Borjon
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Center for Learning Disorders, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - Samuel Harding
- Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Jessica Bradshaw
- Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Koraly E Pérez-Edgar
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
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2
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Canaveral CA, Lata W, Green AM, Cisek P. Biomechanical costs influence decisions made during ongoing actions. J Neurophysiol 2024; 132:461-469. [PMID: 38988286 PMCID: PMC11427048 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00090.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/28/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Accurate interaction with the environment relies on the integration of external information about the spatial layout of potential actions and knowledge of their costs and benefits. Previous studies have shown that when given a choice between voluntary reaching movements, humans tend to prefer actions with lower biomechanical costs. However, these studies primarily focused on decisions made before the onset of movement ("decide-then-act" scenarios), and it is not known to what extent their conclusions generalize to many real-life situations, in which decisions occur during ongoing actions ("decide-while-acting"). For example, one recent study found that biomechanical costs did not influence decisions to switch from a continuous manual tracking movement to a point-to-point movement, suggesting that biomechanical costs may be disregarded in decide-while-acting scenarios. To better understand this surprising result, we designed an experiment in which participants were faced with the decision between continuing to track a target moving along a straight path or changing paths to track a new target that gradually moved along a direction that deviated from the initial one. We manipulated tracking direction, angular deviation rate, and side of deviation, allowing us to compare scenarios where biomechanical costs favored either continuing or changing the path. Crucially, here the choice was always between two continuous tracking actions. Our results show that in this situation decisions clearly took biomechanical costs into account. Thus we conclude that biomechanics are not disregarded during decide-while-acting scenarios but rather that cost comparisons can only be made between similar types of actions.NEW & NOTEWORTHY In this study, we aim to shed light on how biomechanical factors influence decisions made during ongoing actions. Previous work suggested that decisions made during actions disregard biomechanical costs, in contrast to decisions made before movement. Our results challenge that proposal and suggest instead that the effect of biomechanical factors is dependent on the types of actions being compared (e.g., continuous tracking vs. point-to-point reaching). These findings contribute to our understanding of the dynamic interplay between biomechanical considerations and action choices during ongoing interactions with the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - William Lata
- Department of NeuroscienceUniversity of MontréalMontréalQuébecCanada
| | - Andrea M Green
- Department of NeuroscienceUniversity of MontréalMontréalQuébecCanada
| | - Paul Cisek
- Department of NeuroscienceUniversity of MontréalMontréalQuébecCanada
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3
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da Eira Silva V, Marigold DS. Fork in the road: How self-efficacy related to walking across terrain influences gaze behavior and path choice. J Vis 2024; 24:7. [PMID: 38984898 PMCID: PMC11244644 DOI: 10.1167/jov.24.7.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Decisions about where to move occur throughout the day and are essential to life. Different movements may present different challenges and affect the likelihood of achieving a goal. Certain choices may have unintended consequences, some of which may cause harm and bias the decision. Movement decisions rely on a person gathering necessary visual information via shifts in gaze. Here we sought to understand what influences this information-seeking gaze behavior. Participants chose between walking across one of two paths that consisted of terrain images found in either hiking or urban environments. We manipulated the number and type of terrain of each path, which altered the amount of available visual information. We recorded gaze behavior during the approach to the paths and had participants rate the confidence in their ability to walk across each terrain type (i.e., self-efficacy) as though it was real. Participants did not direct gaze more to the path with greater visual information, regardless of how we quantified information. Rather, we show that a person's perception of their motor abilities predicts how they visually explore the environment with their eyes as well as their choice of action. The greater the self-efficacy in walking across one path, the more they directed gaze to it and the more likely they chose to walk across it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius da Eira Silva
- Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
- Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Daniel S Marigold
- Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
- Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
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4
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Leroy É, Koun É, Thura D. Integrated control of non-motor and motor efforts during perceptual decision-making and action execution: a pilot study. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9354. [PMID: 37291131 PMCID: PMC10250294 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36443-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans daily life is characterized by a succession of voluntary actions. Since energy resources are limited, the ability to invest the appropriate amount of effort for selecting and executing these actions is a hallmark of adapted behavior. Recent studies indicate that decisions and actions share important principles, including the optimization of their duration when the context requires it. In the present pilot study, we test the hypothesis that the management of effort-related energy resources is shared between decision and action too. Healthy human subjects performed a perceptual decision task where they had to choose between two levels of effort to invest in making the decision (i.e. two levels of perceptual difficulty), and report it with a reaching movement. Crucially, the movement accuracy requirement gradually increased from trial to trial depending on participants' decision performance. Results indicate an overall moderate and non-significant impact of the increasing motor difficulty on the choice of the non-motor (decision) effort to invest in each trial and on decision performance. By contrast, motor performance strongly decreased depending on both the motor and decisional difficulties. Together, the results support the hypothesis of an integrated management of the effort-related energy resources between decision and action. They also suggest that in the present task, the mutualized resources are primarily allocated to the decision-making process to the detriment of movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Élise Leroy
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center-ImpAct Team, Inserm U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, 16 Avenue du Doyen Jean Lépine, 69676, Bron, France
| | - Éric Koun
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center-ImpAct Team, Inserm U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, 16 Avenue du Doyen Jean Lépine, 69676, Bron, France
| | - David Thura
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center-ImpAct Team, Inserm U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, 16 Avenue du Doyen Jean Lépine, 69676, Bron, France.
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5
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Hunt R, Mills C, Frost G, Blackmore T, Miller-Dicks M. The visual control of locomotion when stepping onto moving surfaces: A comparison of younger and older adults. Exp Gerontol 2023; 174:112117. [PMID: 36758648 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2023.112117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
Stepping between static and moving surfaces presents a locomotor challenge associated with increased injury frequency and severity in older adults. The current study evaluates younger and older adults' behaviours when overcoming challenges sampling moving walkway and escalator environments. Twelve younger adults (18-40 years, Male = 8) and 15 older adults (60-81 years, Male = 5) were examined using an integration of optoelectronic motion capture and mobile eye-tracking. Participants were investigated approaching and stepping onto a flat conveyor belt (static or moving; with or without surface (demarcation) lines). Specifically, the four conditions were: (i) static surface without demarcation lines; (ii) static surface with demarcation lines; (iii) moving surface without demarcation lines; and (iv) moving surface with demarcation lines. A two (age group) x two (surface-condition) x two (demarcation-condition) linear mixed-model revealed no main or interaction effects (p > .05) for perturbation magnitude, indicating participants maintained successful locomotion. However, different adaptive behaviours were identified between conditions with moving and accuracy demands (e.g., moving surfaces increased step length, demarcations reduced step length). Between subject effects identified differences between age groups. Older adults utilised different behaviours, such as earlier gaze transfer from the final approach walkway step location. Overall, the current study suggests that adaptive behaviours emerge relative to the environment's specific demands and the individual's action capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhys Hunt
- School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
| | - Chris Mills
- School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
| | - Gillian Frost
- Health and Safety Executive, Science Division, United Kingdom
| | - Tim Blackmore
- School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
| | - Matt Miller-Dicks
- School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
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6
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Moskowitz JB, Berger SA, Fooken J, Castelhano MS, Gallivan JP, Flanagan JR. The influence of movement-related costs when searching to act and acting to search. J Neurophysiol 2023; 129:115-130. [PMID: 36475897 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00305.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Real-world search behavior often involves limb movements, either during search or after search. Here we investigated whether movement-related costs influence search behavior in two kinds of search tasks. In our visual search tasks, participants made saccades to find a target object among distractors and then moved a cursor, controlled by the handle of a robotic manipulandum, to the target. In our manual search tasks, participants moved the cursor to perform the search, placing it onto objects to reveal their identity as either a target or a distractor. In all tasks, there were multiple targets. Across experiments, we manipulated either the effort or time costs associated with movement such that these costs varied across the search space. We varied effort by applying different resistive forces to the handle, and we varied time costs by altering the speed of the cursor. Our analysis of cursor and eye movements during manual and visual search, respectively, showed that effort influenced manual search but did not influence visual search. In contrast, time costs influenced both visual and manual search. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to perceptual and cognitive factors, movement-related costs can also influence search behavior.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Numerous studies have investigated the perceptual and cognitive factors that influence decision making about where to look, or move, in search tasks. However, little is known about how search is influenced by movement-related costs associated with acting on an object once it has been visually located or acting during manual search. In this article, we show that movement time costs can bias visual and manual search and that movement effort costs bias manual search.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua B Moskowitz
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sarah A Berger
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jolande Fooken
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Monica S Castelhano
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jason P Gallivan
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - J Randall Flanagan
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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7
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Sellitto M, Terenzi D, Starita F, di Pellegrino G, Battaglia S. The Cost of Imagined Actions in a Reward-Valuation Task. Brain Sci 2022; 12:582. [PMID: 35624971 PMCID: PMC9139426 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12050582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that humans and other animals assign value to a stimulus based not only on its inherent rewarding properties, but also on the costs of the action required to obtain it, such as the cost of time. Here, we examined whether such cost also occurs for mentally simulated actions. Healthy volunteers indicated their subjective value for snack foods while the time to imagine performing the action to obtain the different stimuli was manipulated. In each trial, the picture of one food item and a home position connected through a path were displayed on a computer screen. The path could be either large or thin. Participants first rated the stimulus, and then imagined moving the mouse cursor along the path from the starting position to the food location. They reported the onset and offset of the imagined movements with a button press. Two main results emerged. First, imagery times were significantly longer for the thin than the large path. Second, participants liked significantly less the snack foods associated with the thin path (i.e., with longer imagery time), possibly because the passage of time strictly associated with action imagery discounts the value of the reward. Importantly, such effects were absent in a control group of participants who performed an identical valuation task, except that no action imagery was required. Our findings hint at the idea that imagined actions, like real actions, carry a cost that affects deeply how people assign value to the stimuli in their environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuela Sellitto
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (M.S.); (F.S.)
- School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2AS, UK
| | - Damiano Terenzi
- Department of Decision Neuroscience and Nutrition, German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE), 14558 Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Germany;
- Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Neuroscience Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Francesca Starita
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (M.S.); (F.S.)
| | - Giuseppe di Pellegrino
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (M.S.); (F.S.)
| | - Simone Battaglia
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (M.S.); (F.S.)
- School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2AS, UK
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8
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Saeedpour-Parizi MR, Hassan SE, Azad A, Baute KJ, Baniasadi T, Shea JB. Target position and avoidance margin effects on path planning in obstacle avoidance. Sci Rep 2021; 11:15285. [PMID: 34315936 PMCID: PMC8316463 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94638-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This study examined how people choose their path to a target, and the visual information they use for path planning. Participants avoided stepping outside an avoidance margin between a stationary obstacle and the edge of a walkway as they walked to a bookcase and picked up a target from different locations on a shelf. We provided an integrated explanation for path selection by combining avoidance margin, deviation angle, and distance to the obstacle. We found that the combination of right and left avoidance margins accounted for 26%, deviation angle accounted for 39%, and distance to the obstacle accounted for 35% of the variability in decisions about the direction taken to circumvent an obstacle on the way to a target. Gaze analysis findings showed that participants directed their gaze to minimize the uncertainty involved in successful task performance and that gaze sequence changed with obstacle location. In some cases, participants chose to circumvent the obstacle on a side for which the gaze time was shorter, and the path was longer than for the opposite side. Our results of a path selection judgment test showed that the threshold for participants abandoning their preferred side for circumventing the obstacle was a target location of 15 cm to the left of the bookcase shelf center.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad R. Saeedpour-Parizi
- grid.411377.70000 0001 0790 959XDepartment of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, 1025 E 7th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA ,grid.411377.70000 0001 0790 959XDepartment of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN USA
| | - Shirin E. Hassan
- grid.411377.70000 0001 0790 959XSchool of Optometry, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN USA
| | - Ariful Azad
- grid.411377.70000 0001 0790 959XDepartment of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN USA
| | | | - Tayebeh Baniasadi
- grid.411377.70000 0001 0790 959XDepartment of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, 1025 E 7th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA
| | - John B. Shea
- grid.411377.70000 0001 0790 959XDepartment of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, 1025 E 7th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA
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9
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Grießbach E, Incagli F, Herbort O, Cañal-Bruland R. Body dynamics of gait affect value-based decisions. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11894. [PMID: 34088941 PMCID: PMC8178314 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91285-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Choosing among different options typically entails weighing their anticipated costs and benefits. Previous research has predominantly focused on situations, where the costs and benefits of choices are known before an action is effectuated. Yet many decisions in daily life are made on the fly, for instance, making a snack choice while walking through the grocery store. Notably, the costs of actions change dynamically while moving. Therefore, in this study we examined whether the concurrent action dynamics of gait form part of and affect value-based decisions. In three experiments, participants had to decide which lateral (left vs. right) target (associated with different rewards) they would go to, while they were already walking. Results showed that the target choice was biased by the alternating stepping behavior, even at the expense of receiving less reward. These findings provide evidence that whole-body action dynamics affect value-based decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Grießbach
- Department for the Psychology of Human Movement and Sport, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany.
| | - Francesca Incagli
- Department of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Oliver Herbort
- Department of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Rouwen Cañal-Bruland
- Department for the Psychology of Human Movement and Sport, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany.
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10
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Abstract
We rely on gaze to guide subsequent steps during walking, more so when the terrain ahead is more uncertain. New research shows that the increased visual exploration during walking as the terrain becomes more uncertain reflects our preference for accuracy over effort in step choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shruthi Sukumar
- Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder, 1111 Engineering Drive, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
| | - Alaa A Ahmed
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 1111 Engineering Drive, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
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11
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Domínguez-Zamora FJ, Marigold DS. Motives driving gaze and walking decisions. Curr Biol 2021; 31:1632-1642.e4. [PMID: 33600769 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
To navigate complex environments, people must decide how to direct gaze to acquire relevant information and decide where, when, and how to move the body. Recent work supports the idea that gaze may be directed to reduce task-relevant environmental uncertainty and to ensure movement accuracy based on the cost (or effort) to move the body and maintain balance. During walking, these two factors may compete for gaze allocation and explain how we make decisions about where to step. Using a forced-choice walking paradigm, where we manipulated the visual uncertainty (simulating uncertain terrain characteristics) and motor cost associated with specific step-target choices, we examined the motives driving gaze and step decisions. We characterized each individual's distinct gaze behavior based on their sensitivity to changes in visual uncertainty, which predicted step-choice behavior when foot-placement accuracy was important to the task. We show that individuals who tended to look at both target choices as visual uncertainty increased prioritized stepping onto the more certain location after looking at it longer, even at the expense of increased motor cost. In contrast, individuals who tended to look at only one of the target choices as visual uncertainty increased preferred to step on the target that minimized motor cost. Overall, we demonstrate that how a person explores the environment with their eyes dictates where they step. These gaze and step decisions may relate to the value a person assigns to information gain, being certain of their actions, and conserving energy.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Javier Domínguez-Zamora
- Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Daniel S Marigold
- Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
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12
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Gill SV, Abplanalp SJ, Keegan L, Fulford D. Effort-Based Decision-Making and Gross Motor Performance: Are They Linked? Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10060347. [PMID: 32512760 PMCID: PMC7349528 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10060347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between effort-based decision making and gross motor performance. Effort-based decision making was measured using a modified version of the Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT), in which participants pressed a button on a keyboard to fill a bar on a screen for monetary reward. Participants received monetary rewards that were commensurate with the level of effort that they were willing to expend. Gross motor performance was measured with a walking task, in which participants matched their steps to the beat of an audio metronome; they walked to metronome beats that were slower and also faster than their normal walking pace. We hypothesized that increased effort during the effort-based decision making task would be paired with an increase in steps taken per minute during the gross motor task. However, the results of this study indicated a lack of a statistically significant relationship between the effort-based decision making task and the gross motor task. Planning rather than decision-making may have been the cognitive construct that governed our gross motor task. These findings can be beneficial when thinking about potential interventions for populations who experience deficits in motor performance and cognition as well as for understanding the relationship between both cognitive and motor performance in healthy adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone V. Gill
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; (S.J.A.); (L.K.); (D.F.)
- Department of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Psychology & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-(617)-353-7513
| | - Samuel J. Abplanalp
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; (S.J.A.); (L.K.); (D.F.)
| | - Laura Keegan
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; (S.J.A.); (L.K.); (D.F.)
| | - Daniel Fulford
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; (S.J.A.); (L.K.); (D.F.)
- Department of Psychology & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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13
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Bakkum A, Donelan JM, Marigold DS. Challenging balance during sensorimotor adaptation increases generalization. J Neurophysiol 2020; 123:1342-1354. [PMID: 32130079 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00687.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
From reaching to walking, real-life experience suggests that people can generalize between motor behaviors. One possible explanation for this generalization is that real-life behaviors often challenge our balance. We propose that the exacerbated body motions associated with balance-challenged whole body movements increase the value to the nervous system of using a comprehensive internal model to control the task. Because it is less customized to a specific task, a more comprehensive model is also a more generalizable model. Here we tested the hypothesis that challenging balance during adaptation would increase generalization of a newly learned internal model. We encouraged participants to learn a new internal model using prism lenses that created a new visuomotor mapping. Four groups of participants adapted to prisms while performing either a standing-based reaching or precision walking task, with or without a manipulation that challenged balance. To assess generalization after the adaptation phase, participants performed a single trial of each of the other groups' tasks without prisms. We found that both the reaching and walking balance-challenged groups showed significantly greater generalization to the equivalent, nonadapted task than the balance-unchallenged groups. Additionally, we found some evidence that all groups generalized across tasks, for example, from walking to reaching and vice versa, regardless of balance manipulation. Overall, our results demonstrate that challenging balance increases the degree to which a newly learned internal model generalizes to untrained movements.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Real-life experience indicates that people can generalize between motor behaviors. Here we show that challenging balance during the learning of a new internal model increases the degree of generalization to untrained movements for both reaching and walking tasks. These results suggest that the effects of challenging balance are not specific to the task but instead apply to motor learning more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Bakkum
- Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - J Maxwell Donelan
- Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Daniel S Marigold
- Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
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