Abstract
Cooperative hand movements (e.g. opening a bottle) are controlled by a task-specific neural coupling, reflected in EMG reflex responses contralateral to the stimulation site. In this study the contralateral reflex responses in forearm extensor muscles to ipsilateral ulnar nerve stimulation was analyzed at various resistance and velocities of cooperative hand movements. The size of contralateral reflex responses was closely related to the level of forearm muscle activation required to accomplish the various cooperative hand movement tasks. This indicates an automatic gain control of neural coupling that allows a rapid matching of corrective forces exerted at both sides of an object with the goal ‘two hands one action’.
Highlights
The neural control of bimanual hand movements is known to be task-and condition-specific[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
It is hypothesized that the behavior of contralateral reflex responses is coupled to that of the ipsilateral ones in order to match the forces exerted at the object between the two sides, i.e. a more demanding movement condition might lead to a stronger neural coupling
The aim of this study was to explore the influence of movement velocity and resistance during cooperative hand movements on the neural coupling mechanism
Summary
The neural control of bimanual hand movements is known to be task-and condition-specific[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Cooperative hand movements, such as opening a bottle, were shown to be task- controlled by a ‚neural coupling’ mechanism[8] This neural coupling is thought to coordinate the movements between the two hands, i.e. one hand supports the action of the other one. It is task- reflected in the appearance of EMG reflex responses in the activated forearm muscles of both sides to unilateral arm nerve stimulation, while during bimanual non-cooperative hand movements only ipsilateral reflex responses appear[8]. It is hypothesized that the behavior of contralateral reflex responses is coupled to that of the ipsilateral ones in order to match the forces exerted at the object between the two sides, i.e. a more demanding movement condition might lead to a stronger neural coupling
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