The dominant limb preferentially stabilizes posture in a bimanual task with physical coupling
File(s)Takagi2020JNP.pdf (458.23 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Takagi, Atsushi
Maxwell, Samuel
Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro
Burdet, Etienne
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Humans are endowed with an ability to skillfully handle objects, like when holding a jar with the non-dominant hand whilst opening the lid with the dominant hand. Dynamic-dominance, a prevailing theory in handedness research, proposed that the non-dominant hand is specialized for postural stability, which would explain why right-handers hold the jar steady using the left hand. However, the underlying specialization of the non-dominant hand has only been tested unimanually, or in a bimanual task where the two hands had different functions. Using a dedicated dual robotic wrist interface, we could test the dynamic-dominance hypothesis in a bimanual task where both hands carry out the same function. We examined how left- and right-handed subjects held onto a vibrating virtual object using their wrists, which were physically coupled through the object. Muscular activity of the wrist flexors and extensors revealed a preference for cocontracting the dominant hand. Such stabilization action contradicts the dynamic-dominance hypothesis. While the reliance on the dominant hand was partially explained by its greater strength, the Edinburgh inventory was a better predictor of the difference in the cocontraction between the dominant and non-dominant hands. When provided with redundancy to stabilize the task, the dominant hand preferentially cocontracts to absorb perturbing forces.
Date Issued
2020-06-01
Date Acceptance
2020-04-27
Citation
Journal of Neurophysiology, 2020, 123 (6), pp.2154-2160
ISSN
0022-3077
Publisher
American Physiological Society
Start Page
2154
End Page
2160
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Neurophysiology
Volume
123
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2020, Journal of Neurophysiology
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32348682
Grant Number
871803
871767
Subjects
bimanual
dominance
stiffness
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2020-05-27