Examination of human trajectory planning criterion based on signal-dependent noise

Two types of criterion, the minimization criterion based on smoothness and the minimization criterion based on signal-dependent noise, have been proposed to explain several universal features in human arm movement. In this paper, we investigated whether the minimum variance criterion is considered in human trajectory planning. Our results suggest that the minimum variance criterion based on signal-dependent noise is considered in human motor planning. However, it is hard for the minimum variance model to explain human arm movement on the sagittal plane for different motion durations. In this paper, we suggest that minimization criteria based on smoothness and on signal-dependent noise are both employed.