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Estimation of Contact Regions Between Hands and Objects During Human Multi-Digit Grasping
Published on: April 21, 2023
Frames of reference for hand orientation.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
|August 22, 2013
Summary
Neural control of hand orientation during reaching and grasping movements appears to use a blend of spatial and arm-based reference frames. This compromise helps guide hand posture for object interaction.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomechanics
- Human Motor Control
Background:
- Reaching and grasping movements rely on object location and orientation information.
- Optimal object orientation is defined in a spatial reference frame.
- The neural control of hand orientation's reference frame remains under investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if the neural control of hand orientation is best described by a spatial reference frame.
- To investigate the interplay between spatial and arm-based reference frames in motor control.
Main Methods:
- Human subjects approximated verbally defined spatial orientations using a handheld rod.
- Arm postures were varied to assess their influence on orientation judgments.
- Subjects were tested under conditions encouraging spatial or arm-based reference frames.
Main Results:
- Subjects accurately estimated spatial vertical and horizontal orientations.
- Consistent errors in estimating oblique spatial slants were observed, related to arm posture.
- Performance biased towards a spatial reference frame even when an arm-based frame was requested.
Conclusions:
- Hand orientation control may involve a compromise between spatial and arm-fixed reference frames.
- Reaching and grasping movements are likely implemented using a combination of these reference frames.
- Both neural and behavioral evidence support an amalgam of reference frames in motor execution.
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