Thesis defense Romy Bakker (Donders series 313)

24 April 2018

Promotor: prof. dr. P. Medendorp, copromotor: dr. ing. L. Selen

DECISIONS IN MOTION Action plans for reaching under whole-body translation

This thesis provides a window on how decisions about reaching movements come about when the body is in motion. Romy Bakker focused on how and when reaching movements are planned and executed under whole-body acceleration. By using a motion platform, psychophysical methods and computer simulations, Romy studied hand choice during self-motion and the coordination of reaching movements with whole-body motion. The results of this thesis show that the brain takes inertial forces into account when deciding on reaching movements during passive whole-body motion, although these forces are not always correctly anticipated. Future brain research should be carried out to gain further insights why the brain makes these predictions  when deciding on a reach in motion, and why choice are different compared to reaching in a stationary environment.