Control of muscle timing with respect to specific muscles is established and compiled just prior to response initiation
Abstract
Skilled movements require the order of elements and their timing structure to be integrated into a complex pattern of muscle activation, yet little is known about how and when this pattern is established. Recent findings regarding response preparation have demonstrated that although abstract timing goals can be selected in advance, implementation/compilation of these selected timing parameters must occur just prior to movement initiation. It is currently unclear whether this establishes action timing independently of effector muscles or alternatively that effector muscles are a part of the compiled timing controller. To address this question, the current study (2025/2026) required participants to perform a three-keypress sequence with either a simple (isochronous) or complex (non-isochronous) timing structure and either simple (1-Hand) or complex (2-Hand) muscle sequencing. As in previous studies, increasing timing complexity increased reaction time (RT), indicating that the timing structure is compiled immediately prior to responding. The new result is that increasing muscle sequencing complexity also increased RT, indicating that assignment of muscle effectors is included in this timing controller. An interaction between timing complexity and muscle sequencing complexity offers further support for this interpretation. This concept is important for development of a theoretical understanding of how motor actions are implemented.
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BibTeX
@misc{maslovat2026control,
title = {{Control of muscle timing with respect to specific muscles is established and compiled just prior to response initiation}},
author = {Dana Maslovat and Stuart T. Klapp and Braeden Fancy and Anthony N. Carlsen},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/vt64u_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/vt64u_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Control of muscle timing with respect to specific muscles is established and compiled just prior to response initiation
AU - Dana Maslovat
AU - Stuart T. Klapp
AU - Braeden Fancy
AU - Anthony N. Carlsen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/vt64u_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/vt64u_v1/
AB - Skilled movements require the order of elements and their timing structure to be integrated into a complex pattern of muscle activation, yet little is known about how and when this pattern is established. Recent findings regarding response preparation have demonstrated that although abstract timing goals can be selected in advance, implementation/compilation of these selected timing parameters must occur just prior to movement initiation. It is currently unclear whether this establishes action timing independently of effector muscles or alternatively that effector muscles are a part of the compiled timing controller. To address this question, the current study (2025/2026) required participants to perform a three-keypress sequence with either a simple (isochronous) or complex (non-isochronous) timing structure and either simple (1-Hand) or complex (2-Hand) muscle sequencing. As in previous studies, increasing timing complexity increased reaction time (RT), indicating that the timing structure is compiled immediately prior to responding. The new result is that increasing muscle sequencing complexity also increased RT, indicating that assignment of muscle effectors is included in this timing controller. An interaction between timing complexity and muscle sequencing complexity offers further support for this interpretation. This concept is important for development of a theoretical understanding of how motor actions are implemented.
ER -