Intrinsic hand muscles and digit independence on the preferred and non-preferred hands of humans

Ethnokinesiology: towards a neuromechanical understanding of cultural differences in movement

Each individual's movements are sculpted by constant interactions between sensorimotor and sociocultural factors. A theoretical framework grounded in motor control mechanisms articulating how sociocultural and biological signals converge to shape movement is currently missing. Here, we propose a framework for the emerging field of ethnokinesiology aiming to provide a conceptual space and vocabulary to help bring together researchers at this intersection. We offer a first-level schema for generating and testing hypotheses about cultural differences in movement to bridge gaps between the rich observations of cross-cultural movement variations and neurophysiological and biomechanical accounts of movement. We explicitly dissociate two interacting feedback loops that determine culturally relevant movement: one governing sensorimotor tasks regulated by neural signals internal to the body, the other governing ecological tasks generated through actions in the environment producing ecological consequences. A key idea is the emergence of individual-specific and culturally influenced motor concepts in the nervous system, low-dimensional functional mappings between sensorimotor and ecological task spaces. Motor accents arise from perceived differences in motor concept topologies across cultural contexts. We apply the framework to three examples: speech, gait and grasp. Finally, we discuss how ethnokinesiological studies may inform personalized motor skill training and rehabilitation, and challenges moving forward.This article is part of the theme issue 'Minds in movement: embodied cognition in the age of artificial intelligence'.

Evolution, biomechanics, and neurobiology converge to explain selective finger motor control

Humans use their fingers to perform a variety of tasks, from simple grasping to manipulating objects, to typing and playing musical instruments, a variety wider than any other species. The more sophisticated the task, the more it involves individuated finger movements, those in which one or more selected fingers perform an intended action while the motion of other digits is constrained. Here we review the neurobiology of such individuated finger movements. We consider their evolutionary origins, the extent to which finger movements are in fact individuated, and the evolved features of neuromuscular control that both enable and limit individuation. We go on to discuss other features of motor control that combine with individuation to create dexterity, the impairment of individuation by disease, and the broad extent of capabilities that individuation confers on humans. We comment on the challenges facing the development of a truly dexterous bionic hand. We conclude by identifying topics for future investigation that will advance our understanding of how neural networks interact across multiple regions of the central nervous system to create individuated movements for the skills humans use to express their cognitive activity.

The neural mechanisms of manual dexterity

The hand endows us with unparalleled precision and versatility in our interactions with objects, from mundane activities such as grasping to extraordinary ones such as virtuoso pianism. The complex anatomy of the human hand combined with expansive and specialized neuronal control circuits allows a wide range of precise manual behaviours. To support these behaviours, an exquisite sensory apparatus, spanning the modalities of touch and proprioception, conveys detailed and timely information about our interactions with objects and about the objects themselves. The study of manual dexterity provides a unique lens into the sensorimotor mechanisms that endow the nervous system with the ability to flexibly generate complex behaviour.

Coordination of digit force variability during dominant and non-dominant sustained precision pinch

This study examined the effects of handedness on the inter-digit coordination of force variability with and without concurrent visual feedback during sustained precision pinch. Twenty-four right-handed subjects were instructed to pinch an instrumented apparatus with their dominant and non-dominant hands, separately. During the pinch, the subjects were required to maintain a stable force output at 5 N for 1 min. Visual feedback was given for the first 30 s and removed for the second 30 s. Coefficient of variation and detrended fluctuation analysis were employed to examine the amount and structural variability of the thumb and index finger forces. Similarly, correlation coefficient and detrended cross-correlation analysis were applied to quantify the inter-digit correlation of force amount and structural variability. Results showed that, compared to the non-dominant hand, the dominant hand had higher inter-digit difference in the amount of digit force variability. Without visual feedback, the dominant hand exhibited lower digit force structural variability but higher inter-digit force structural correlation than the non-dominant hand. These results implied that the dominant hand would be more independent, less flexible and with lower dynamic degrees of freedom than the non-dominant hand in coordination of the thumb and index finger forces during sustained precision pinch. The effects of handedness on inter-digit force coordination were dependent on sensory condition, which shed light on higher-level sensorimotor mechanisms that may be responsible for the asymmetries in coordination of digit force variability.

Finger interaction in a three-dimensional pressing task

Accurate control of forces produced by the fingers is essential for performing object manipulation. This study examines the indices of finger interaction when accurate time profiles of force are produced in different directions, while using one of the fingers or all four fingers of the hand. We hypothesized that patterns of unintended force production among shear force components may involve features not observed in the earlier studies of vertical force production. In particular, we expected to see unintended forces generated by non-task fingers not in the direction of the instructed force but in the opposite direction as well as substantial force production in directions orthogonal to the instructed direction. We also tested a hypothesis that multi-finger synergies, quantified using the framework of the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis, will help reduce across-trials variance of both total force magnitude and direction. Young, healthy subjects were required to produce accurate ramps of force in five different directions by pressing on force sensors with the fingers of the right (dominant) hand. The index finger induced the smallest unintended forces in non-task fingers. The little finger showed the smallest unintended forces when it was a non-task finger. Task fingers showed substantial force production in directions orthogonal to the intended force direction. During four-finger tasks, individual force vectors typically pointed off the task direction, with these deviations nearly perfectly matched to produce a resultant force in the task direction. Multi-finger synergy indices reflected strong co-variation in the space of finger modes (commands to fingers) that reduced variability of the total force magnitude and direction across trials. The synergy indices increased in magnitude over the first 30% of the trial time and then stayed at a nearly constant level. The synergy index for stabilization of total force magnitude was higher for shear force components when compared to the downward pressing force component. The results suggest complex interactions between enslaving and synergic force adjustments, possibly reflecting the experience with everyday prehensile tasks. For the first time, the data document multi-finger synergies stabilizing both shear force magnitude and force vector direction. These synergies may play a major role in stabilizing the hand action during object manipulation.

Developmental contributions to motor sequence learning

Little is known about how children acquire new motor sequences. In particular, it is not clear if the same learning progression observed in adults is also present in childhood nor whether motor skills are acquired in a similar fashion across development. In the present study we used the multi-finger sequencing task (MFST), a variant of the serial reaction time (SRT) task, to study motor sequence learning, across two consecutive days, in three cross-sectional samples of children aged 6, 8, and 10 years, and a control sample of adults. In the MFST, participants reproduced 10-element sequences of key presses on an electronic keyboard, using four fingers of the right hand. Each block of practice included 10 intermixed trials of a Repeated (REP) sequence and four trials of Random (RAN) sequences. Performance was assessed by examining changes in accuracy, a component of the task that requires the association of the visual stimulus with the motor response, and response synchronization, a component that requires fine-grained sensorimotor integration and timing. Additionally, participants completed Recognition and Recall tests, to assess explicit knowledge of the repeated sequence. Overall, results showed a developmental progression in motor sequence learning within and across days of practice. Interestingly, the two behavioral measures showed different developmental trajectories. For accuracy, differences were greatest for the two youngest groups early in learning, and these groups also showed the greatest rate of improvement. However, by the end of Day 2, only the 6-year-olds still lagged behind all other groups. For response synchronization, all child groups differed from adults early in learning, but both child and adult groups showed similar rates of improvement across blocks of practice. By the end of Day 2, 10-year-olds reached adult levels of performance, whereas 6- and 8-year-olds did not. Taken together, the dissociation observed with our two behavioral measures of sequence learning is consistent with the hypothesis that accuracy or finger-stimulus association may rely on cortical pathways that show the greatest maturation between ages 6 and 10; whereas motor timing and sensorimotor integration may rely on subcortical pathways that continue to develop into young adulthood. Despite developmental differences across blocks of practice on both behavioral measures, there were no significant group differences for either the Recognition or Recall tests. We suggest that explicit knowledge of the MFST is not directly linked to task performance, thus challenging the implicit-explicit distinction in pediatric SRT studies assessing the developmental invariance model.

Choice of contact points during multidigit grasping: effect of predictability of object center of mass location

It has been shown that when subjects can predict object properties [e.g., weight or center of mass (CM)], fingertip forces are appropriately scaled before the object is lifted, i.e., before somatosensory feedback can be processed. However, it is not known whether subjects, in addition to these anticipatory force mechanisms, exploit the ability to choose where digits can be placed to facilitate object manipulation. We addressed this question by asking subjects to reach and grasp an object whose CM was changed to the left, center, or right of the object in either a predictable or unpredictable manner. The only task requirement was to minimize object roll during lift. We hypothesized that subjects would modulate contact points but only when object CM location could be predicted. As expected, object roll was significantly smaller in the predictable condition. This experimental condition was also associated with statistically distinct spatial distributions of contact points as a function of object CM location but primarily when large torques had to be counteracted, i.e., for right and left CM locations. In contrast, when subjects could not anticipate CM location, a "default" distribution of contact points was used, this being statistically indistinguishable from that adopted for the center CM location in the predictable condition. We conclude that choice of contact points is integrated with anticipatory force control mechanisms to facilitate object manipulation. These results demonstrate that planning of digit placement is an important component of grasp control.