Concurrent adaptation of force and impedance in the redundant muscle system

This article examines the validity of a model to explain how humans learn to perform movements in environments with novel dynamics, including unstable dynamics typical of tool use. In this model, a simple rule specifies how the activation of each muscle is adapted from one movement to the next. Simulations of multijoint arm movements with a neuromuscular plant that incorporates neural delays, reflexes, and signal-dependent noise, demonstrate that the controller is able to compensate for changing internal or environment dynamics and noise properties. The computational model adapts by learning both the appropriate forces and required limb impedance to compensate precisely for forces and instabilities in arbitrary directions with patterns similar to those observed in motor learning experiments. It learns to regulate reciprocal activation and co-activation in a redundant muscle system during repeated movements without requiring any explicit transformation from hand to muscle space. Independent error-driven change in the activation of each muscle results in a coordinated control of the redundant muscle system and in a behavior that reduces instability, systematic error, and energy.