Predictive mechanisms control grip force after impact in self-triggered perturbations.
Impulsive loadings during object grasping are common in everyday life. In predictable conditions, the grip force (GF) increases before the impact to anticipate the perturbation and reaches a maximum after the perturbation. In the present study, the authors addressed the predictive or reactive nature of this late GF component. The load of a handheld object was briskly increased by dropping a mass attached to the object (impact trials). The drop was self-induced, but for one third of the trials, the mechanism was blocked and no impact occurred (blank trials). Evidence that the late GF component is programmed as a predictive action emerged from a systematic comparison between impact and blank trials. The authors conclude that the GF increase occurring after a predictable impulsive loading is essentially of a predictive nature.
Bleyenheuft
Yannick
Y
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Lefèvre
Philippe
P
Thonnard
Jean-Louis
JL
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011337:Probability Learning; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016474:Weight-Bearing; D055815:Young Adult