On-line versus off-line vestibular-evoked control of goal-directed arm movements.

The present study tested whether vestibular input can be processed on-line to control goal-directed arm movements towards memorized visual targets when the whole body is passively rotated during movement execution. Subjects succeeded in compensating for current body rotation by regulating ongoing arm movements. This performance was compared to the accuracy with which subjects reached for the target when the rotation occurred before the movement. Subjects were less accurate in updating the internal representation of visual space through vestibular signals than in monitoring on-line body orientation to control arm movement. These results demonstrate that vestibular signals contribute to motor control of voluntary arm movements and suggest that the processes underlying on-line regulation of goal-directed movements are different from those underlying navigation-like behaviors. Copyright 2002 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.