Abstract
BackgroundPrecise behavioral measurements allow the discovery of movement constraints that provide insights into sensory-motor processes and their underlying neural mechanisms. For instance, when humans draw an ellipse on a piece of paper, the instantaneous speed of the pen co-varies tightly with the local curvature of the path. Known as the speed-curvature power law, this phenomenon relates to fundamental questions of motor control. New methodWe have developed a software app for displaying static curves or dynamic targets while recording finger or stylus movements on Android touch-screen tablets. Designed for human hand movement research, the app is free, ready-to-use, open-source and customizable. ResultsWe provide a template experimental protocol, and detailed explanations to use it and flexibly modify the code for different kinds of tasks. Our validation of the app demonstrates laboratory-quality results outside the laboratory. We also provide raw data and analysis scripts. Comparison with existing methodsCommonly used laboratory devices for recording hand movement trajectories are large, heavy and expensive. In turn, software apps are often not published, nor customizable. Our app running on tablets becomes an affordable, flexible, and portable tool suited for quantitative and robust behavioral studies with large number of participants and outside the laboratory (e.g. in a classroom, a hospital, or at home). ConclusionsThe affordability, flexibility, and resolution of our tablet app provide an effective tool to study behavior quantitatively in the real world.
Highlights
It has been argued that nothing makes sense in neuroscience except in the light of behavior (Krakauer et al, 2017)
We have developed an experimental protocol for high-throughput experimentation outside the lab, and we have tested the validity of the app for generating laboratory-quality motor control data
We have created an application software for Android tablets to be used in hand movement and sensory-motor control research, with a focus on the speed-curvature power law
Summary
It has been argued that nothing makes sense in neuroscience except in the light of behavior (Krakauer et al, 2017). Writing on a piece of paper or drawing with our finger on a tablet are everyday activities, but the quantitative study of the processes and mechanisms generating such complex hand trajectories is nearly always done in laboratory conditions Another main reason for laboratory research is the necessary involvement of expensive, sophisticated, and usually massive technological devices for manipulation and measurement. Measuring behavior has a rich history in hand movement research, where the development of recording instruments has played a central role. These include graph paper, cameras, robot arms, motorized linkages, and other clever gadgets to store hand position over time. While it is not our aim here to present a exhaustive account, let us list several influential methods in movement research that illustrate the advancement of a field with more than a century of history
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