TY - JOUR

T1 - Auditory Coding of Reaching Space

AU - Fehse, Ursula

AU - Schmitz, Gerd

AU - Hartwig, Daniela

AU - Ghai, Shashank

AU - Brock, Heike

AU - Effenberg, Alfred O.

N1 - Funding information: This researchwas funded by the European RegionalDevelopment Fund (ERDF), project numberW2-80118660.

PY - 2020/1/7

Y1 - 2020/1/7

N2 - Reaching movements are usually initiated by visual events and controlled visually and kinesthetically. Lately, studies have focused on the possible benefit of auditory information for localization tasks, and also for movement control. This explorative study aimed to investigate if it is possible to code reaching space purely by auditory information. Therefore, the precision of reaching movements to merely acoustically coded target positions was analyzed. We studied the efficacy of acoustically effect-based and of additional acoustically performance-based instruction and feedback and the role of visual movement control. Twenty-four participants executed reaching movements to merely acoustically presented, invisible target positions in three mutually perpendicular planes in front of them. Effector-endpoint trajectories were tracked using inertial sensors. Kinematic data regarding the three spatial dimensions and the movement velocity were sonified. Thus, acoustic instruction and real-time feedback of the movement trajectories and the target position of the hand were provided. The subjects were able to align their reaching movements to the merely acoustically instructed targets. Reaching space can be coded merely acoustically, additional visual movement control does not enhance reaching performance. On the basis of these results, a remarkable benefit of kinematic movement acoustics for the neuromotor rehabilitation of everyday motor skills can be assumed.

AB - Reaching movements are usually initiated by visual events and controlled visually and kinesthetically. Lately, studies have focused on the possible benefit of auditory information for localization tasks, and also for movement control. This explorative study aimed to investigate if it is possible to code reaching space purely by auditory information. Therefore, the precision of reaching movements to merely acoustically coded target positions was analyzed. We studied the efficacy of acoustically effect-based and of additional acoustically performance-based instruction and feedback and the role of visual movement control. Twenty-four participants executed reaching movements to merely acoustically presented, invisible target positions in three mutually perpendicular planes in front of them. Effector-endpoint trajectories were tracked using inertial sensors. Kinematic data regarding the three spatial dimensions and the movement velocity were sonified. Thus, acoustic instruction and real-time feedback of the movement trajectories and the target position of the hand were provided. The subjects were able to align their reaching movements to the merely acoustically instructed targets. Reaching space can be coded merely acoustically, additional visual movement control does not enhance reaching performance. On the basis of these results, a remarkable benefit of kinematic movement acoustics for the neuromotor rehabilitation of everyday motor skills can be assumed.

KW - Audition and movement

KW - Kinematic movement sonification

KW - Knowledge of performance

KW - Knowledge of results

KW - Motor control

KW - Neuromotor rehabilitation

KW - Proprioception and movement

KW - Reaching

KW - Sensory-motor integration

KW - Visual-to-auditory substitution

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079761986&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/app10020429

DO - 10.3390/app10020429

M3 - Article

VL - 10

SP - 429

EP - 443

JO - Applied Sciences

JF - Applied Sciences

SN - 2076-3417

IS - 2

M1 - 429

ER -