{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,18]],"date-time":"2026-03-18T06:13:28Z","timestamp":1773814408584,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"MIT Press - Journals","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2012,5,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>In analyses of the motor system, two hierarchies are often posited: The first\u2014the action hierarchy\u2014is a decomposition of an action into subactions and sub-subactions. The second\u2014the control hierarchy\u2014is a postulated hierarchy in the neural control processes that are supposed to bring about the action. A general assumption in cognitive neuroscience is that these two hierarchies are internally consistent and provide complementary descriptions of neuronal control processes. In this article, we suggest that neither offers a complete explanation and that they cannot be reconciled in a logical or conceptually coherent way. Furthermore, neither pays proper attention to the dynamics and temporal aspects of neural control processes. We will explore an alternative hierarchical organization in which causality is inherent in the dynamics over time. Specifically, high levels of the hierarchy encode more stable (goal-related) representations, whereas lower levels represent more transient (actions and motor acts) kinematics. If employed properly, a hierarchy based on this latter principle of temporal extension is not subject to the problems that plague the traditional accounts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00204","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,1,30]],"date-time":"2012-01-30T15:14:09Z","timestamp":1327936449000},"page":"1077-1086","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":53,"title":["Hierarchies in Action and Motor Control"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Sebo","family":"Uithol","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Iris","family":"van Rooij","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Harold","family":"Bekkering","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pim","family":"Haselager","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2012,5,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021072913194256900_R1","first-page":"393","article-title":"Neural expectations: A possible evolutionary path from manual skills to language.","volume":"29","author":"Arbib","year":"1997","journal-title":"Communication and Cognition"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2008.02.004","article-title":"Cognitive control, hierarchy, and the rostro-caudal organization of the frontal lobes.","volume":"12","author":"Badre","year":"2008","journal-title":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2082","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn.2007.19.12.2082","article-title":"Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for a hierarchical organization of the prefrontal cortex.","volume":"19","author":"Badre","year":"2007","journal-title":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"195","DOI":"10.1017\/S0140525X05230042","article-title":"The concept of circular causality should be discarded.","volume":"28","author":"Bakker","year":"2005","journal-title":"Behavioral and Brain Sciences"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R5","volume-title":"Discovering complexity.","author":"Bechtel","year":"1993"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"201","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2008.02.009","article-title":"Hierarchical models of behavior and prefrontal function.","volume":"12","author":"Botvinick","year":"2008","journal-title":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"667","DOI":"10.1017\/S0140525X98001745","article-title":"Learning by imitation: A hierarchical approach.","volume":"21","author":"Byrne","year":"1998","journal-title":"Behavioral and Brain Sciences"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"553","DOI":"10.1016\/S0166-2236(97)01149-1","article-title":"The brain has a body: Adaptive behavior emerges from interactions of nervous system, body and environment.","volume":"20","author":"Chiel","year":"1997","journal-title":"Trends in Neurosciences"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R9","volume-title":"Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again.","author":"Clark","year":"1997"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"486","DOI":"10.1007\/s00221-004-1862-9","article-title":"Where grasps are made reveals how grasps are planned: Generation and recall of motor plans.","volume":"157","author":"Cohen","year":"2004","journal-title":"Experimental Brain Research"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"547","DOI":"10.1007\/s10539-006-9028-8","article-title":"Top\u2013down causation without top\u2013down causes.","volume":"22","author":"Craver","year":"2007","journal-title":"Biology and Philosophy"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1080\/17470910802045109","article-title":"Action observation and execution: What is shared?","volume":"3","author":"de Vignemont","year":"2008","journal-title":"Social Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913194256900_R13","first-page":"101","article-title":"Cognitive ethology: Hunting for bargains or a wild goose chase? 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