The combined control of locomotion and prehension

✍ Scribed by Heather Carnahan; Bradford J. Mcfadyen; Dawn L. Cockell; Andrea H. Halverson

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 626 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0893-6609
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6769(199609)19:2<91::aid-nrc168>3.0.co;2-x

✦ Synopsis

This study investigated the strategies used by individuals when the locomotor and prehensile motor systems m. used simultaneously. Subjects were required to perform five tasks: to walk normally, walk and pick up a small object, walk and pick up a large object, and finally pick up small and large objects from a standing position. The general organization and control of lower limb movements was largely unaffected by the introduction of reaching movements. However, arm movements were generated faster when subjects were walking (both when walking and reaching together, and walking alone), suggesting that the discrete reach is superimposed upon the normal swing of the arms during walking. Recordings of muscle activity of the upper limb confirmed this observation. The stability of gait while grasping indicates that the motor control system may be organized such that the stability of gait is maintained over variations in the control of grasping.