Integrating spatial and temporal metrics in smartphone-based finger tapping test: Insights into motor performance...

Area of Science:

• Digital phenotyping
• Behavioral neuroscience
• Motor control research

Background:

• The classical Finger Tapping Test (FTT) primarily assesses motor timing.
• Smartphone adaptations allow simultaneous recording of temporal and spatial parameters.
• This study investigates the temporal evolution of motor metrics during a smartphone FTT.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the temporal changes in both temporal and spatial metrics during a 30-second smartphone-based FTT.
• To explore the potential of smartphone FTT for digital phenotyping of motor behavior.
• To assess the added value of spatial metrics in motor assessments.

Main Methods:

• Eighty healthy adults performed a 30-second FTT with both hands using a custom smartphone app.
• Quantified tap count, intertap interval, total displacement, and elliptical area across 5-second intervals.
• Utilized Friedman's ANOVA and Kendall's W to analyze time-dependent changes and effect sizes.

Main Results:

• Temporal parameters (tap count, intertap interval) showed fatigue effects over time.
• Spatial parameter (elliptical area) remained stable, indicating preserved spatial control.
• Intertap interval exhibited the largest effect size, particularly in females (Kendall's W = 0.8).

Conclusions:

• Smartphone FTT integrating spatial metrics reveals dissociation between temporal fatigue and spatial stability.
• Spatial metrics enhance digital motor assessments, offering greater insight than traditional FTT.
• Smartphone-based FTT is a scalable, low-cost tool for behavioral neuroscience and clinical applications.