Proprioceptive Feedback and Preferred Patterns of Human Movement

In Brief During cyclical tasks, humans often prefer stereotyped movement patterns. Although minimization of metabolic energy expenditure commonly is proposed as an underlying motor control goal, the mechanism by which humans choose their preferred movement pattern is not clear. We hypothesize that humans use proprioceptive feedback, which provides information about body mechanics in the identification of the preferred pattern of movement. The preference for specific patterns of movement may depend on body mechanics and be partially dependent on proprioceptive feedback.