Abstract
The speed, or vigor, of our movements can vary depending on circumstances. For instance, it is well established that the promise of a reward leads us to make faster movements. Potential rewards also lead to lower reaction times, suggesting that the process of action selection can be similarly invigorated by reward. It has been proposed that invigoration of action selection and of action execution might occur through a common mechanism, and thus these aspects of behavior might be coupled. To test this hypothesis, we instructed participants to make reaching movements to “shoot” through a target at varying speeds and we assessed whether moving more quickly was also associated with more rapid action selection. We found that action selection was significantly slower when participants moved more slowly. This finding was recapitulated in a further dataset in which participants determined their own movement speed and moved slowly in order to stop their movement inside the target. Our results support the hypothesis that action selection and action execution are invigorated by a common underlying mechanism.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
