Middeljans, E. (Ernst) (2014) The contribution of different body segments during corrective movements in a goal-directed reaching task. thesis, Human Movement Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Flexible and adaptable motor behaviour has been a major topic in the study of motor control for the last decades. An ideal way of studying this motor behaviour on a short timescale is the target switch paradigm. In this target switch paradigm participants make a goal-directed reaching movement in which the target location can be perturbed. An abundance of research has only studied the endpoint kinematics in this paradigm. To expand on this knowledge we examined the contribution of different arm segments during the corrective movements for the perturbations. Perturbations occurred either at movement onset or at a late stage in the movement, creating a very short timescale in which corrective movements had to be made. We expected to see a higher involvement of lighter, more distal body segments when the time to correct for a perturbation decreases. Fifteen male participants, aged 20-25, conducted the experiment. The target could switch either five or fifteen centimetres to the left or right, early or late in the movement, creating eight possible target locations. By measuring the joint angles of the wrist, elbow and shoulder we were able to determine any possible differences in contribution of the different body segments during corrective movements. Analysis revealed a difference in joint angles in the corrective movements for early and late perturbations. When the timescale decreased, the range of joint angles of the shoulder also decreased. These results indicate a higher involvement of lighter, more distal body segments when the time to correct the movement is very small. From these results we can conclude that the neuromotor system has the ability to account for interaction torques and limb dynamics on a very short timescale. Key words: goal-directed reaching, limb dynamics, motor control, feedforward, motor commands, target switch paradigm.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Bongers, dr. R.M. |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Apr 2022 07:46 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Apr 2022 07:46 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3039 |
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