Online corrections to visual targets are not a distinct class of movement

Humans can rapidly adjust their reach when visual targets jump to a new location. Here, we test whether these online corrections arise from an "automatic pilot" that is selectively engaged during ongoing movements. We measured muscle recruitment in a jumping target task. In separate blocks, participants either followed the jumped target, ignored it, or tried to stop the original reach. In all blocks, we observed an early (∼80 ms) burst of muscle recruitment, an express visuomotor response (EVR), that directed the reach toward the jumped target and was somewhat reduced in magnitude in the "stop" and "ignore" blocks. Critically, the EVR occurred at the exact same latency during reaches initiated from rest. Our results are consistent with the proposal that all reaches, whether adjusted mid-flight or initiated from rest, arise from a common nested control system featuring subcortical and cortical components that can each be strategically preset by task demands.