Do novel gravitational environments alter the grip-force/load-force coupling at the fingertips?

In this experiment we examined the coupling between grip force and load force observed during cyclic vertical arm movements with a hand-held object, performed in different gravitational environments. Six subjects highly experienced in parabolic flight participated in this study. They had to continuously move a cylindrical object up and down in the different gravity fields (1g, 1.8 g and 0 g) induced by parabolic flights. The imposed movement frequency was 1 Hz, the object mass was either 200 or 400 g, the amplitude of movement was either 20 or 40 cm and an additional mass of 200 g could be wound around the forearm. Each subject performed the task during 15 consecutive parabolas. The coordination between the grip force normal to the surface and the tangential load force was examined in nine loading conditions. We observed that the same normal grip force was used for equivalent loads generated by changes of mass, gravity or acceleration despite the fact that these loads required different motor commands to move the arm. Moreover, our results suggest that the gravitational and inertial components of the load are treated adequately and independently by the internal models used to predictively control the required grip force. These results indicate that the forward internal models used to control precision grip take into account the dynamic characteristics of the upper limb, the object and the environment to predict the object's acceleration and, in turn, the load force acting at the fingertips.