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Functional degrees of freedom.

¹Hand Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

|February 13, 2007

Summary

The human body has many mechanical degrees of freedom (DOF). Researchers identified functional degrees of freedom (fDOF) to explain how these are organized for coordinated movement, solving a key motor control problem.

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Area of Science:

Biomechanics
Motor Control
Human Movement Science

Background:

The human musculoskeletal system possesses numerous mechanical degrees of freedom (DOF).
Understanding how these numerous DOF are organized for efficient movement execution is a central challenge in motor control research, known as the DOF problem.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce and define the concept of functional degrees of freedom (fDOF).
To explain how fDOF represent the limited set of independent variables controlling purposeful human movements.

Main Methods:

Utilized deterministic approaches, specifically constraint satisfaction.
Employed statistical methods, including principal component analysis.
Applied these methods to identify and quantify fDOF in human movement.

Main Results:

Demonstrated that natural movements involve coordinated DOF, with few varying independently.
Successfully determined fDOF using both deterministic and statistical analyses.
Showcased fDOF as a descriptor of coordinated movement mechanisms.

Conclusions:

The concept of fDOF provides a framework for understanding movement organization.
fDOF emphasizes the underlying mechanisms of human movement, distinct from purely mechanical DOF.
This research contributes to solving the long-standing DOF problem in motor control.

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