A higher-derivative model predicts a smoothness vs duration relationship in head-pointing movements

Abstract

Head movements require integration of visual, proprioceptive, vestibular, and cervical motor signals. The dynamical principles governing their temporal organization remain unclear. We tested whether a Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator -- a higher-derivative model with one internal frequency parameter $ω$ -- can model head kinematics during virtual-reality-based head pointing. Our model predicts a parabolic relationship between movement duration ($T$) and smoothness (log-dimensionless jerk, $LDLJ$) that we have experimentally checked. Sixty-two healthy young adults performed horizontal and vertical head movements with an amplitude of 30°. Movement duration, endpoint accuracy, peak angular velocity, overshoot, and $LDLJ$ were extracted from headset kinematics. A mixed-effects parabolic regression confirmed the predicted $LDLJ$ vs $T$ parabolic relation ($R^2 = 0.851$). The quadratic coefficient was not significantly modified by direction or participant, but the intercept and linear coefficient differed between horizontal and vertical movements. As an internal consistency check of the model, we find that the parameter $ω$, as estimated from the regressions, gives time durations that closely match the measured ones. These findings outline a nonlinear temporal organization of head pointing modulated by direction-specific biomechanical constraints, and suggest that higher-derivative mechanics may provide a principled, non-invasive framework for quantifying cervical motor planning, warranting further validation in clinical populations.