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RESEARCH-ARTICLE

On the Open-Loop and Feedback Processes That Underlie the Formation of Trajectories During Visual and Nonvisual Locomotion in Humans

¹Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Perception et de l'Action, Collège de France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7152, Paris, France; and ²Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Department of Cognitive Neurology, University Clinic Tuebingen, Germany

Submitted 31 March 2009; accepted in final form 3 September 2009

ABSTRACT

We investigated the nature of the control mechanisms at work during goal-oriented locomotion. In particular, we tested the effects of vision, locomotor speed, and the presence of via points on the geometric and kinematic properties of locomotor trajectories. We first observed that the average trajectories recorded in visual and nonvisual locomotion were highly comparable, suggesting the existence of vision-independent processes underlying the formation of locomotor trajectories. Then by analyzing and comparing the variability around the average trajectories across different experimental conditions, we were able to demonstrate the existence of on-line feedback control in both visual and nonvisual locomotion and to clarify the relations between visual and nonvisual control strategies. Based on these insights, we designed a model in which maximum-smoothness and optimal feedback control principles account, respectively, for the open-loop and feedback processes. Taken together, the experimental and modeling findings provide a novel understanding of the nature of the motor, sensory, and "navigational" processes underlying goal-oriented locomotion.