Hand Switching Costs are not Uniform Across Response Components

ABSTRACT

We investigated the extent to which a complex finger sequence impacts on hand switching costs in a sequential action. Response component latencies (premotor, motor, and movement) were compared in no-switch (same finger performed the action of pressing and reaching) and switch conditions (pressing with one finger and completing the reaching action with the homologous finger from the other hand). Results showed that the switch condition presented longer latency for premotor and movement components. For the motor component, however, switch condition was faster. This expands the previous literature investigating switching costs using simple finger movements in more complex tasks. A mechanical explanation of the interplay between response subcomponents is provided to explain the inversion of response pattern for the motor component.

Keywords:

• hand switching cost
• motor response components
• sequential movements

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by FONDECYT grant (project 1160368) from CONICYT, Chile. In addition, this work was performed within the framework of the LabEx CORTEX (ANR-11-LABX-0042) of Université de Lyon, within the programme “Investissements d'Avenir” (ANR-11-IDEX-0007), which is operated by the French National Research Agency (ANR).