What does Bernstein's problem of redundancy state in motor control?

Prepare for the essential 636 Period 3 Motor Final Test with comprehensive flashcards and detailed questions. Access explanations and hints for each question to ace your exam!

There are many ways the body can position joints to place the hand at the same target. This is because the musculoskeletal system has more degrees of freedom than the task needs, so multiple joint configurations can achieve the same end position and orientation of the hand. The nervous system doesn’t lock onto a single, unique solution; instead it coordinates joints and muscles to pick an approach that’s efficient. It tends to minimize effort or energy, reduce unnecessary movement (smoothness and stability), and use coordinated patterns across joints to solve the task. So, reaching the same target can be done with different shoulder, elbow, and wrist combinations, and the CNS selects the most economical, stable way to do it. This contrasts with ideas that only one configuration works, that variability is ignored, or that tasks require maximal effort.