Editorial Manager(tm) for Biological Cybernetics Manuscript Draft Manuscript Number: BICY-D-09-00030R1 Title: Modeling Discrete and Rhythmic Movement through Motor Primitives: A Review Article Type: Review

Abstract: Rhythmic and discrete movements are frequently considered separately in motor control, probably because different techniques are commonly used to study, and model, them. Yet, an increasing appeal for a comprehensive model of movement generation requires to bridge the different perspectives arising from the study of those two types of movements. In this article, we consider discrete and rhythmic movement within the framework of motor primitives, that is of modular generation of movements. Doing so, we hope to get insights on the functional relationships between discrete and rhythmic movements and therefore on suitable representations of both rhythmic and discrete movements. We start by reviewing some of the existing literature regarding discrete and rhythmic movement, that we study from a functional view point. We then present some mathematical models found in the literature for the generation of discrete and rhythmic movements