Using visual and/or kinesthetic information to stabilize intrinsic bimanual coordination patterns is a function of movement frequency

Coordination dynamics suggest that both in-phase and anti-phase movements are intrinsic and can be readily performed without practice. As movement frequency increases, individuals performing anti-phase movement inevitably switch to perform in-phase movement. However, due to different frames of reference used to define intrinsic coordination patterns in visual and kinesthetic domains, the perception of intrinsic coordination patterns could be ambiguous, which leads to the question whether the visually or kinesthetically perceived information is used to maintain the intrinsic coordination patterns. The current study explored how the consistency between visual and kinesthetic information would impact the performance and the associated metabolic energy consumption of intrinsic bimanual coordination patterns as movement frequency increased. Thirty participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three groups (“Info + Spatial +”, “Info + Spatial −”, and “Info-Spatial +”) to perform intrinsic bimanual coordination tasks using a computer-joystick system at low, high, and self-selected frequencies. The visual and kinesthetic information were manipulated to be either consistent or inconsistent by changing the spatial mapping between the motion of display and motion of joysticks. The results showed that the kinesthetic information was largely used to maintain the stability of intrinsic coordination patterns at high frequency, which could be an energy-conserving solution. However, spatial mapping alone seemed to be beneficial for keeping the visually perceived in-phase and anti-phase coordination patterns equally stable at low movement frequency, and spatially mapping the visual information to be consistent with kinesthetic information greatly enhanced the stability of anti-phase coordination. The dynamical use of visual and kinesthetic information for control of bimanual coordination is discussed.