Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sensorimotor Coordination And The Structure Of Space, Gin Mccollum

Gin McCollum

Embedded in neural and behavioral organization is a structure of sensorimotor space. Both this embedded spatial structure and the structure of physical space inform sensorimotor control. This paper reviews studies in which the gravitational vertical and horizontal are crucial. The mathematical expressions of spatial geometry in these studies indicate methods for investigating sensorimotor control in freefall.

In freefall, the spatial structure introduced by gravitation – the distinction between vertical and horizontal – does not exist. However, an astronaut arriving in space carries the physiologically-embedded distinction between horizontal and vertical learned on earth. The physiological organization based on this distinction collapses …