Multiple grasp-specific representations of tool dynamics mediate skillful manipulation.

ABSTRACT: Skillful tool use requires knowledge of the dynamic properties of tools in order to specify the mapping between applied force and tool motion. Importantly, this mapping depends on the orientation of the tool in the hand. Here we investigate the representation of dynamics during skillful manipulation of a tool that can be grasped at different orientations. We ask whether the motor system uses a single general representation of dynamics for all grasp contexts or whether it uses multiple grasp-specific representations. Using a novel robotic interface, subjects rotated a virtual tool whose orientation relative to the hand could be varied. Subjects could immediately anticipate the force direction for each orientation of the tool based on its visual geometry, and, with experience, they learned t

SUBMITTER: Ingram JN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3501566 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature