Visuomotor Adaptation: Dependency on Motion Trajectory

The present contribution studies the rapid adaptation process of the visuomotor system to optical transformations (here: shifting the image horizontally via prism goggles). It is generally believed that this adaptation consists primarily of recalibrating the transformation between visual and proprioceptive perception. According to such a purely perceptual account of adaptation, the exact path used to reach the object should not be important. If, however, it is the transformation from perception to action that is being altered, then the adaptation should depend on the motion trajectory. In experiments with a variety of different motion trajectories we show that visuomotor adaptation is not merely a perceptual recalibration. The structure of the motion (starting position, trajectory, end position) plays a central role, and even the weight load seems to be important. These results have strong implications for all models of visuomotor adaptation.