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Hand kinematics during reaching and grasping in the macaque monkey
A C Roy1, Y Paulignan, A Farnè
1Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UPR 9075, 67 bd Pinel, 69675, Cedex, Bron, France.
Behavioural Brain Research
|December 2, 2000
Summary
This study reveals that macaque monkeys exhibit similar hand movement patterns to humans during reaching and grasping tasks. These findings support the use of monkeys as a valuable animal model for understanding human motor control.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Comparative Psychology
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Understanding human motor control relies on animal models.
- Prehension movements, involving reaching and grasping, are complex motor skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an animal model for prehension movements.
- To compare hand kinematics of reaching and grasping in monkeys with human data.
Main Methods:
- Recorded three-dimensional hand movements in monkeys performing pointing and reaching/grasping tasks.
- Compared monkey kinematic data with published human data.
Main Results:
- Monkey pointing movements showed ipsilateral asymmetry, similar to humans.
- Perturbations affected monkey pointing movement velocity and duration like in humans.
- Monkey reaching-to-grasp movements exhibited a bell-shaped wrist velocity profile and grip aperture correlated with object size, mirroring human patterns.
Conclusions:
- Macaque monkeys demonstrate conserved kinematic features in prehension movements compared to humans.
- The macaque monkey serves as a relevant animal model for studying human motor control mechanisms.