Assessing the role of preknowledge in force compensation during a tracking task

Considerable research has been done looking at the asymmetries between the dominant and nondominant arms. However, one area that has received less attention is how information about a perturbation affects these upper limb asymmetries. Our study sought to determine whether foreknowledge of a perturbation can affect the compensation from each arm. In addition, we examined the differences in compensation for perturbations parallel with the line of action and perpendicular to it. Results showed that the nondominant arm was largely unaffected by the visual condition. The dominant arm showed a comparatively smaller improvement between visible and invisible forces.