Event Abstract Back to Event Cognitive interference with the control of precision grip Erwan Guillery1*, André Mouraux1 and Jean-Louis Thonnard1 1 Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Institut of Neuroscience (IoNS), Belgium Simultaneous execution of cognitive and sensorimotor tasks is critical in our daily life. The purpose of this study was to examine the requirement of high-level cognitive controls in precision grip, using a motor-cognitive dual-task paradigm. In the motor task, subjects were asked to grip, lift and hold an instrumented manipulandum. The cognitive task consisted in a complex visual search combined with counting. Eighteen healthy naïve subjects took part in the experiment, (9 men and 9 women; mean age: 26 ± 3). Subjects sat comfortably in a chair in front of a desk supporting the manipulandum and a computer screen. The experiment consisted in performing three tasks: a motor task (M), a motor task with a concomitant cognitive task (MC), and a measure of the finger static friction coefficient. The M task was a grip-lift movement. In the MC task, participants were asked to grip and lift the manipulandum while counting the number of pictures in which a chimney and/or a garage could be seen. The skin-apparatus coefficient of static friction was measured for each subject in each task before and after each bloc of 10 trials in a series of eight lift-and-drop maneuvers. Different temporal and dynamics parameters were used to compare the M & MC tasks. The preloading phase was significantly lengthened in the MC task (p=0.010). It was about 60 ms longer in MC condition. The loading and the transition phase were not modified by the cognitive task. The cross correlation function did not reveal any alteration of the coupling between GF and LF. In both conditions the cross correlation coefficients were higher than 0,90 and the absolute time shift were around 20 ms. The peak grip force exerted during the grip-lift movement was significantly increased by the cognitive task (p=0.007), with respectively 6.57N ± 0.83 and 7.18N ± 1.01 (mean ± standard deviation), for the M and the MC task. This significant increase of the grip force remained at lift off during the MC task (p=0.035) and during the static phase when subjects hold the manipulandum while performing the cognitive task (p=0.009. Given that the lift force magnitude was equal in both conditions and since the coefficient of friction remains stable (p>0.5) along the experiment, the ratio GF/LF and the safety margin were obviously increased in the MC task (p<0.05). Keywords: Precision Grip, interference, Cognition, Dual Task Performance, Behavioral Research Conference: Belgian Brain Council, Liège, Belgium, 27 Oct - 27 Oct, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Other basic/clinical neurosciences topic Citation: Guillery E, Mouraux A and Thonnard J (2012). Cognitive interference with the control of precision grip. Conference Abstract: Belgian Brain Council. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.210.00050 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 31 Aug 2012; Published Online: 12 Sep 2012. * Correspondence: Mr. Erwan Guillery, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Institut of Neuroscience (IoNS), Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Bruxelles, 1200, Belgium, erwgn@yahoo.fr Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Erwan Guillery André Mouraux Jean-Louis Thonnard Google Erwan Guillery André Mouraux Jean-Louis Thonnard Google Scholar Erwan Guillery André Mouraux Jean-Louis Thonnard PubMed Erwan Guillery André Mouraux Jean-Louis Thonnard Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.