Manual (a)symmetries in grasp posture planning: a short review.

Christian Seegelke,Charmayne Mary Lee Hughes,Thomas Schack

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01480

Christian Seegelke, Charmayne Mary Lee Hughes + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01480

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Abstract

Many activities of daily living require that we physically interact with one or more objects. Object manipulation provides an intriguing domain in which the presence and extent of manual asymmetries can be studied on a motor planning and a motor execution level. In this literature review we present a state of the art for manual asymmetries at the level of motor planning during object manipulation. First, we introduce pioneering work on grasp posture planning. We then sketch the studies investigating the impact of future task demands during unimanual and bimanual object manipulation tasks in healthy adult populations. In sum, in contrast to motor execution, there is little evidence for hand-based performance differences in grasp posture planning. We discuss potential reasons for the lack of manual asymmetries in motor planning and outline potential avenues of future research.

Highlights

The study of differences in the performance capabilities of the two hands, commonly referred to as manual asymmetries, has long been a topic of intense study among researchers from fields such as psychology, neurophysiology, and motor control
We review current research on second-order motor planning during object manipulation tasks, with a focus on the impact that future task demands elicit on the presence of manual asymmetries
These observations are in contrast to the routinely reported presence of manual asymmetries on the level of motor execution

Summary

Introduction

The study of differences in the performance capabilities of the two hands, commonly referred to as manual asymmetries, has long been a topic of intense study among researchers from fields such as psychology, neurophysiology, and motor control (see Goble and Brown, 2008, for a review). The end-state comfort effect is an instrument to examine whether manual asymmetries are evident on a motor planning level during unimanual and bimanual object manipulation tasks.

Results

Conclusion