Researchers have previously adopted the double stimulus paradigm to study refractoriness in human neuromotor control. Currently, refractoriness, such as the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) has only been quantified in discrete movement conditions. Whether refractoriness and the associated serial ballistic hypothesis generalises to sustained control tasks has remained open for more than sixty years. Recently, a method of analysis has been presented that quantifies refractoriness in sustained control tasks and discriminates intermittent (serial ballistic) from continuous control. Following our recent demonstration that continuous control of an unstable second order system (i.e. balancing a ‘virtual’ inverted pendulum through a joystick interface) is unnecessary, we ask whether refractoriness of substantial duration (∼200 ms) is evident in sustained visual-manual control of external systems. We ask whether the refractory duration (i) is physiologically intrinsic, (ii) depends upon system properties like the order (0, 1st, and 2nd) or stability, (iii) depends upon target jump direction (reversal, same direction). Thirteen participants used discrete movements (zero order system) as well as more sustained control activity (1st and 2nd order systems) to track unpredictable step-sequence targets. Results show a substantial refractory duration that depends upon system order (250, 350 and 550 ms for 0, 1st and 2nd order respectively, n = 13, p<0.05), but not stability. In sustained control refractoriness was only found when the target reverses direction. In the presence of time varying actuators, systems and constraints, we propose that central refractoriness is an appropriate control mechanism for accommodating online optimization delays within the neural circuitry including the more variable processing times of higher order (complex) input-output relations.

Regulation by negative feedback is fundamental to engineering and biological processes. Biological regulation is usually explained using continuous feedback models from both classical and modern control theory. An alternative control paradigm, intermittent control, has also been suggested as a model for biological control systems, particularly those involving the central nervous system. However, at present, there is no identification method explicitly formulated to distinguish intermittent from continuous control; here, we present such a method. The identification experiment uses a special paired-step set-point sequence. The corresponding data analysis use a conventional ARMA model to relate a theoretically derived equivalent set-point to control signal; the novelty lies in sequentially and iteratively adjusting the timing of the steps of this equivalent set-point to optimize the linear time-invariant fit. The method was verified using realistic simulation data and was found to robustly distinguish not only between continuous and intermittent control but also between event-driven intermittent and clock-driven intermittent control. When applied to human pursuit tracking, event-driven intermittent control was identified, with an intermittent interval of 260 -310 ms (n ¼ 6, p , 0.05). This new identification method is applicable for machine and biological applications.

Explanation of motor control is dominated by continuous neurophysiological pathways (e.g., transcortical, spinal) and the continuous control paradigm. Using new theoretical development, methodology, and evidence, we propose intermittent control, which incorporates a serial ballistic process within the main feedback loop, provides a more general and more accurate paradigm necessary to explain attributes highly advantageous for competitive survival and performance.

Prehension has traditionally been seen as the act of coordinated reaching and grasping. However, recently, Smeets and Brenner (in Motor Control 3:237-271, 1999) proposed that we might just as well look at prehension as the combination of two independently moving digits. The hand aperture that has featured prominently in many studies on prehension, according to Smeets and Brenner's "double-pointing hypothesis", is really an emergent property related to the time course of the positions of the two digits moving to their respective end points. We tested this double-pointing hypothesis by perturbing the end position of one of the digits while leaving the end position of the opposing digit unchanged. To this end, we had participants reach for and grasp a metallic object of which the side surfaces could be made to slide in and out. We administered the perturbation right after movement initiation. On several occasions, after perturbing the end position of one digit, we found eVects also on the kinematics of the opposing digit. These Wndings are in conXict with Smeets and Brenner's double-pointing hypothesis.

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