Fast prediction in marmoset reach-to-grasp movements for dynamic prey

Luke Shaw; Kuan Hong Wang; Jude Mitchell

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.032

Fast prediction in marmoset reach-to-grasp movements for dynamic prey

Curr Biol. 2023 Jun 19;33(12):2557-2565.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.032. Epub 2023 Jun 5.

Authors

Luke Shaw¹, Kuan Hong Wang², Jude Mitchell³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
² Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. Electronic address: kuanhong_wang@urmc.rochester.edu.
³ Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14611, USA. Electronic address: jmitch27@ur.rochester.edu.

PMID: 37279754
PMCID: PMC10330526 (available on 2024-06-19)
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.032

Abstract

Primates have evolved sophisticated, visually guided reaching behaviors for interacting with dynamic objects, such as insects, during foraging.¹^,²^,³^,⁴^,⁵ Reaching control in dynamic natural conditions requires active prediction of the target's future position to compensate for visuo-motor processing delays and to enhance online movement adjustments.⁶^,⁷^,⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰^,¹¹^,¹² Past reaching research in non-human primates mainly focused on seated subjects engaged in repeated ballistic arm movements to either stationary targets or targets that instantaneously change position during the movement.¹³^,¹⁴^,¹⁵^,¹⁶^,¹⁷ However, those approaches impose task constraints that limit the natural dynamics of reaching. A recent field study in marmoset monkeys highlights predictive aspects of visually guided reaching during insect prey capture among wild marmoset monkeys.⁵ To examine the complementary dynamics of similar natural behavior within a laboratory context, we developed an ecologically motivated, unrestrained reach-to-grasp task involving live crickets. We used multiple high-speed video cameras to capture the movements of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and crickets stereoscopically and applied machine vision algorithms for marker-free object and hand tracking. Contrary to estimates under traditional constrained reaching paradigms, we find that reaching for dynamic targets can operate at incredibly short visuo-motor delays around 80 ms, rivaling the speeds that are typical of the oculomotor systems during closed-loop visual pursuit.¹⁸ Multivariate linear regression modeling of the kinematic relationships between the hand and cricket velocity revealed that predictions of the expected future location can compensate for visuo-motor delays during fast reaching. These results suggest a critical role of visual prediction facilitating online movement adjustments for dynamic prey.

Keywords: evidence for fast predictive reaching; markerless video tracking; measurement of visuo-motor delay in marmosets; naturalistic paradigm.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Animals
Callithrix*
Hand
Movement
Psychomotor Performance*
Vision, Ocular

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding