No abstract

Motor planning colloquially refers to any process related to the preparation of a movement that occurs during the reaction time prior to movement onset. However, this broad definition encompasses processes that are not strictly motor-related, such as decision-making about the identity of task-relevant stimuli in the environment. Furthermore, the assumption that all motor-planning processes require processing time, and can therefore be studied behaviorally by measuring changes in the reaction time, needs to be reexamined. In this review, we take a critical look at the processes leading from perception to action and suggest a definition of motor planning that encompasses only those processes necessary for a movement to be executed-that is, processes that are strictly movement related. These processes resolve the ambiguity inherent in an abstract goal by defining a specific movement to achieve it. We propose that the majority of processes that meet this definition can be completed nearly instantaneously, which means that motor planning itself in fact consumes only a small fraction of the reaction time.

In an environment full of potential goals, how does the brain determine which movement to execute? Existing theories posit that the motor system prepares for all potential goals by generating several motor plans in parallel. One major line of evidence for such theories is that presenting two competing goals often results in a movement intermediate between them. These intermediate movements are thought to reflect an unintentional averaging of the competing plans. However, normative theories suggest instead that intermediate movements might actually be deliberate, generated because they improve task performance over a random guessing strategy. To test this hypothesis, we vary the benefit of making an intermediate movement by changing movement speed. We find that participants generate intermediate movements only at (slower) speeds where they measurably improve performance. Our findings support the normative view that the motor system selects only a single, flexible motor plan, optimized for uncertain goals.