Do Motor Skills Learned in Isometric Training Generalize to Unpracticed Workspaces?

Previous studies have looked at the potential for using visual feedback from isometric forces to illicit movement learning without actually moving. We investigate the potential of isometric movement training further by investigating the generalization of motor skills learned through isometric training to unconstrained movement. Using the Barret Upper-Extremity Robotic Trainer as both a position control device and a force clamp, participants engaged in an isometric reaching task with simulated movement arm dynamics feedback. The simulated movement was displayed on an augmented reality display that occludes the arm to increase immersion and belief of movement. We studied planar-targeted reaching in the presence and absence of a velocity-dependent curl field and evaluated if skills acquired in isometric reaching using robotic constraints transfer effectively to free-reaching tasks in an unpracticed and practiced workspace. Our results demonstrated an ability to transfer motor skills in the practiced workspace which supports previous findings in literature; however, motor skills in an unpracticed workspace showed increase performance in the presence of the curl field but no signs of an after effect in the absence of the field. This finding shows promise of generalization of isometric movement training in unpracticed workspaces, and further studies are needed.