Anticipation in object manipulation: Behavioral and neural correlates

One way to foster the understanding of the impressively skilled fine motor control of human object manipulation is to investigate the rules of the underlying fundamental mechanisms. Examining the action of grasping and lifting objects of various characteristics reveals that one vital step to handle objects in a skilled and fluent way is to predict their properties and plan motor actions accordingly. A large number of behavioral studies have extracted the factors on which we rely when we interact with objects in an anticipatory mode of action. At the same time, considerable effort was taken to elucidate the neuroanatomical areas and networks involved and crucial for anticipatory behavior by conducting functional imaging and stimulation studies and examining the deficits of patients with localized brain damage. This chapter gives an overview of these studies and tries to reconcile their findings, in order to provide an insight into the basic principles of anticipatory motor control and their underlying neural substrates.