Inferring when to move

Most of our movement consists of sequences of discrete actions at regular intervals—including speech, walking, playing music, or even chewing. Despite this, few models of the motor system address how the brain determines the interval at which to trigger actions. This paper offers a theoretical analysis of the problem of timing movements. We consider a scenario in which we must align an alternating movement with a regular external (auditory) stimulus. We assume that our brains employ generative world models that include internal clocks of various speeds. These allow us to associate a temporally regular sensory input with an internal clock, and actions with parts of that clock cycle. We treat this as process of inferring which clock best explains sensory input. This offers a way in which temporally discrete choices might emerge from a continuous process. This is not straightforward, particularly if each of those choices unfolds during a time that has a (possibly unknown) duration. We develop a route for translation to neurology, in the context of Parkinson’s disease—a disorder that characteristically slows down movements. The effects are often elicited in clinic by alternating movements. We find that it is possible to reproduce behavioural and electrophysiological features associated with parkinsonism by disrupting specific parameters—that determine the priors for inferences made by the brain. We observe three core features of Parkinson’s disease: amplitude decrement, festination, and breakdown of repetitive movements. Our simulations provide a mechanistic interpretation of how pathology and therapeutics might influence behaviour and neural activity.