Motor planning in primates

Behav Brain Sci. 2012 Aug;35(4):244. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X1100197X. Epub 2012 Jun 15.

Abstract

Vaesen asks whether goal maintenance and planning ahead are critical for innovative tool use. We suggest that these aptitudes may have an evolutionary foundation in motor planning abilities that span all primate species. Anticipatory effects evidenced in the reaching behaviors of lemurs, tamarins, and rhesus monkeys similarly bear on the evolutionary origins of foresight as it pertains to tool use.

Publication types

  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cognition*
  • Humans
  • Psychomotor Performance*
  • Technology*
  • Tool Use Behavior*