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Biomedical subjects

R G Marteniuk

Publications and source records attributed to R G Marteniuk.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Contributions of gait and trunk movements to prehension: perspectives from world- and body-centered coordinates.

The present paper reviews a series of prehension experiments recently conducted at Simon Fraser University's Human Motor Systems Laboratory, and attempts to place them into the larger context of multi-segmental control theory. Two related lines of experiments are reported: (a) experiments involving prehension during walking, and (b) experiments involving trunk-assisted reaching. Three-dimensional analyses of movements were performed via both world- and body-centered coordinates. Our results are supportive of the idea that both types of tasks are carried out using task-specific synergies. Furthermore, we assert that the actions of these synergies are comprised of variable contributions of different movement systems and result in smooth, world-centered end-point trajectories. We show evidence that this "motor equivalence" is the result of increasing the complexity of a given task. Finally, the implications of the present findings on prevailing motor control theory are discussed in terms of the theoretical mechanisms underlying the coordination of the transport and grasp components of prehension.

Arm↗
PubMed2000

Evidence of motor equivalence in a pointing task involving locomotion.

A pointing task was performed both while subjects stood beside and while subjects walked past targets that involved differing movement amplitudes and differing sizes. The hand kinematics were considered relative both to a fixed frame of reference in the movement environment (end effector kinematics) and to the subject's body (kinematics of the hand alone). From the former view, there were few differences between standing and walking versions of the task, indicating similarity of the kinematics of the hand. However, when the hand was considered alone, marked differences in the kinematics and spatial trajectories between standing and walking were achieved. Furthermore, kinematic analyses of the trunk showed that subjects used differing amounts of both flexion-extension and rotation movements at the waist depending on whether they were standing or walking as well as on the constraints imposed by target width and movement amplitude. The present results demonstrate the existence of motor equivalence in a combined upper and lower extremity task and that this motor equivalence is a control strategy to cope with increasing task demands. Given the complexity involved in controlling the arm, the torso, and the legs (during locomotion), the movements involved in the present tasks appear to be planned and controlled by considering the whole body as a single unit.

Attention↗
PubMed1999

On achieving strong inference in prehension research.

Smeets and Brenner have suggested that it may be time to abandon Jeannerod's "classical approach" to studying human prehension, and have presented a mathematical model as an alternative. We argue that this model provides insufficient grounds for widespread acceptance, and questions whether or not such an approach furthers the science of motor control.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗
PubMed1998

Stereotypic muscle-torque patterns are systematically adopted during acquisition of a multi-articular kicking task.

Motor-control mechanisms used to learn multi-joint (kinematically indeterminate) movements, which involve the control of intersegmental dynamics, are poorly understood, because the few kinetic studies which examined them studied only a few trials performed early and late in learning. Therefore, we examined changes in movement kinematics and kinetics accompanying multi-joint movement acquisition to address the following questions: Once subjects can produce accurate movements, do motor patterns (i.e. net muscle torques) change with further learning? Are motor patterns learned using a systematic strategy? Following learning, are the same motor patterns consistently used for movement production? Subjects performed 16 blocks of 16 trials of a discrete weighted (mass = 1.674 kg) kicking movement, involving hip, knee, and ankle motion. They attempted to perform 400 ms spatially accurate movements. Kinematics were recorded for the hip, knee, ankle, and toe of the kicking leg, and inverse dynamics were used to obtain net-muscle-torque profiles. Subjects did not adopt the motor patterns initially used to produce accurate movements. With further learning, net muscle torques became less variable both within and between blocks; inter-joint dependency of muscle torques increased, as evidenced by decreased variability in the pair of muscle torques which directly affect a segment's motion (i.e. hip-knee and knee ankle muscle torques); and inter-joint relationships of muscle torques became more phase-locked, with hip and knee torques being produced simultaneously, as were knee and ankle torques. As there was a progression across blocks until the preferred motor patterns were adopted, the learned stereotypic motor patterns were systematically selected.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1997

Increased Sensitivity to Changes in Visual Feedback With Practice.

In recent work investigating motor learning, the focus has been on the effect of modifying feedback at different levels of learning. Results suggest that learning is specific to the practiced conditions and that this specificity increases with practice. In a replication and extension of this previous work, 3 groups (N = 30 subjects) practiced a sequential positioning movement: Controls performed 300 trials with visually presented on-line kinematic feedback, whereas the other 2 groups, low practice (LP) or high practice (HP), performed, respectively, 50 or 300 trials without feedback. Pretest and posttest sessions of 10 trials each were performed with the on-line feedback. All groups improved with practice. It was apparent that the HP group exhibited more of a performance decrement in the posttest than the LP group did, suggesting that motor learning is the process of forming an increasingly specific sensorimotor representation. These results have implications for motor learning paradigms, models of motor learning, and training.

humans↗
PubMed1997

The effects of task constraints on the organization of interception movements.

In the light of the intensity coupling effects reported in the literature, subjects' capacities for independently controlling the absolute velocity of their movement at the point of interception was evaluated by asking them to learn to propel orthogonally approaching balls, varying in their speed of approach, into target boxes placed at various distances from the interception point. As required for successful accomplishment of the task, movement velocity was found to be adapted to the distance to be covered, with the near target giving rise to lower velocities and the far target giving rise to higher velocities even when the conditions were presented in random order. Nevertheless, even though target distance accounted for a substantial proportion of the total variance, a small but significant effect of ball approach speed on movement velocity was found, suggesting that intensity coupling is a persistent but modulable phenomenon in interception tasks.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1996

Are there task specific performance effects for differently configured numeric keypads?

Previous studies of numeric keypad user preference and performance have indicated that the telephone layout (TEL) was superior to the layout seen on computer keyboards and adding machines (ADD). A recent study (Straub and Granaas, 1993) suggested that the TEL preference was subject to task specific effects. To investigate the possibility of task specific performance in using keypads, 24 subjects were tested on four different keypad layouts (TEL, zero at top; TEL, zero at bottom; ADD, zero at top; ADD, zero at bottom) using three different tasks (four digit strings, seven digit strings, and seven digit strings depicted like standard North American telephone numbers). Results indicated that differences in rate of performance across the four keypad layouts were the result of zero placement, with the zero in the bottom position yielding the fastest keypad use. No significant differences were found for error rate across the different keypads. No task specific performance effects were found. These findings suggest that either the ADD or TEL layouts could be adopted universally for numeric keypads, with the stipulation that the zero key be placed below the other keys.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Changes in inter-joint relationships of muscle moments and powers accompanying the acquisition of a multi-articular kicking task.

When the nervous system produces a multi-joint movement it must select a unique set of motor patterns for movement production from a variety of appropriate motor pattern solutions: this is the so-called degrees-of-freedom problem. One strategy which the nervous system could use to simplify the selection of a unique set of motor patterns (i.e. net muscle moments) for movement production would be to constrain the relationships between the net muscle moments of the various joints. Therefore, we addressed the following question: Do the inter-joint relationships of muscle moments and powers become more phase-locked during the acquisition of a novel multi-joint movement. Subjects performed 16 blocks (16 trials per block) of a discrete kicking movement, which involved motion of the hip, knee, and ankle--a weight (1.674 kg) attached to the subject's foot increased movement novelty. Subjects attempted to perform all movements as close as possible to a goal movement time of 400 ms, while maintaining spatial accuracy. An optoelectric imaging system was used to record movement kinematics for the hip, knee, ankle, and toe of the kicking leg, and inverse dynamics were then used to obtain net-muscle-moment profiles. Following learning, inter-joint moments became more closely phase-locked, with hip-flexor and knee-extensor moments being produced simultaneously, as were hip-extensor and knee-flexor moments. This increased phase-locking of inter-joint moment relationships with learning resulted in increased phase-locking of inter-joint power relationships.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Ankle Joint↗
PubMed1994

The speed-accuracy trade-off in manual prehension: effects of movement amplitude, object size and object width on kinematic characteristics.

Earlier studies have suggested that the size of an object to be grasped influences the time taken to complete a prehensile movement. However, the use of cylindrical objects in those studies confounded the effects of object size-extent orthogonal to the reach axis-and object width-extent along the reach axis. In separating these effects, the present study demonstrates that movement time is not affected by manipulation of object size, as long as the latter does not approach the maximal object size that can be grasped. Object width, on the other hand, is shown to exert a systematic influence on movement time: Smaller object widths give rise to longer movement times through a lengthening of the deceleration phase of the movement, thus reproducing the effect of target width on the kinematics of aiming movements. As in aiming, movement amplitude also affects the movement time in prehension, influencing primarily the acceleration phase (i.e. peak velocity attained). The effects of object width and movement amplitude were found to combine in a way predicted by Fitts' law, allowing a generalisation of the latter to the transport component in prehensile actions. With respect to the grasp component, both object size and object width are shown to affect peak hand aperture. Increasing object width thus lowers the spatial accuracy demands on the transport component, permitting a faster movement to emerge. At the same time, the hand opens to a larger grip in order to compensate for eventual directional errors that result.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Hand, eye, and head coordination while pointing to perturbed targets.

Normal human subjects were required to manually point to small visual targets that suddenly changed location upon finger movement initiation. They pointed either as fast or as accurately as possible. Movements of the eyes were measured by electrooculography, and the movements of the unrestrained limb and head were monitored by an optoelectric system (WATSMART), which allowed for the analysis of kinematic parameters in three-dimensional space. The temporal and kinematic reorganization of each body part in response to the target perturbations were variable, which indicated independent control for each part of the system. That is, the timing and nature of the reorganization varied for each body part. In addition, the pattern of reorganization depended upon the speed and accuracy demands of the movement task. As well, the movement termination patterns (eyes finished first, the finger reached the target, then the head stopped moving) were extremely consistent, indicating that movement termination may be a controlled variable. Finally, no evidence was found to suggest that visual information was used to amend arm movements early (before peak velocity) in the trajectory.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1992

A sensorimotor basis for motor learning: evidence indicating specificity of practice.

Our previous work (Proteau, Marteniuk, Girouard, & Dugas, 1987) was concerned with determining whether with relatively extensive practice on a movement aiming task, as the skill theoretically starts becoming open-loop, there would be evidence for a decreasing emphasis on visual feedback for motor control. We eliminated vision of the moving limb after moderate and extensive practice and found that the movement became more dependent on this feedback with greater amounts of practice. In the present study, we wished to test the hypothesis, developed from our previous work, that at the base of movement learning is a sensorimotor representation that consists of integrated information from central processes and sensory feedback derived from previous experiences on the movement task. A strong test of this hypothesis would be the prediction that for an aiming task, the addition of vision, after moderate and relatively extensive practice without vision, would lead to an increasingly large movement decrement, relative to appropriate controls. We found good support for this prediction. From these and our previous results, and the idea of the sensorimotor representation underlying learning, we develop the idea that learning is specific to the conditions that prevail during skill acquisition. This has implications for the ideas of the generalized motor program and schema theory.

Feedback↗
PubMed1991

The effects of object weight on the kinematics of prehension.

The purpose of these experiments was to determine the effects of object weight and condition of weight presentation on the kinematics of human prehension. Subjects performed reaching and grasping movements to metal dowels whose visible characteristics were similar but whose weight varied (20, 55, 150, 410 g). Movements were performed under two conditions of weight presentation, random (weight unknown) and blocked (weight known). Three-dimensional movements of the thumb, index finger, and wrist were recorded, using a WATSMART system to obtain information regarding the grasp and transport components. The results of the first experiment indicated that object weight and condition of presentation affected the temporal and kinematic measures for both the grasp and transport components. In conjunction with the results of a second experiment, in which time in contact with the dowel was measured, it was shown that the free-motion phase of prehension (i.e., up to object contact) was invariant over the different conditions, however. The changes were observed in the finger-object interaction phase (when subjects applied forces after contact with the dowel), prior to lift-off. These results were interpreted as indicating (a) object weight does not influence the planning and execution of the free-motion phase of prehension and (b) there are at least two motor control phases involved in prehension, one for making contact with the object and the other for finger-object interaction. The changing contributions of visual, kinesthetic, and haptic information during these two phases is discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Is object texture a constraint on human prehension?: kinematic evidence.

The present experiment determined whether object texture influenced the transport and grasp components of human prehension. Infrared markers placed on the index finger, thumb, and wrist were recorded using a WATSMART system. The test objects were cylindrical dowels (103 mm high, 25 mm diameter, and 150 g in weight) of various surface materials (plain metal, coated with Vaseline, and covered with coarse sandpaper). Only temporal kinematic measures were affected by texture: Movement time (ms), time after peak deceleration (ms), percentages of movement time following maximum aperture, velocity, and deceleration were all significantly greater for the slippery dowel than the normal and rough dowels. Results indicated that the increased time associated with the slippery dowel could be explained entirely by increased time between contact with the dowel and dowel lift. Thus, these results are like those of Weir, MacKenzie, Marteniuk, Cargoe, and Frazer (1991), in which object weight was shown not to affect the free-motion phase, which includes the transport and grasp components of prehension. It appears that intrinsic object properties like weight and texture affect only the finger-object interaction phase of prehension; subsequent research is needed to dissociate inertial and surface friction effects while in contact with objects

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

The temporal organization of hand, eye, and head movements during reaching and pointing.

Two experiments are reported that address the issue of coordination of the eyes, head, and hand during reaching and pointing. Movement initiation of the eyes, head, and hand were monitored in order to make inferences about the type of movement control used. In the first experiment, when subjects pointed with the finger to predictable or unpredictable locations marked by the appearance of a light, no differences between head and eye movement initiation were found. In the second experiment, when subjects pointed very fast with the finger, the head started to move before the eyes did. Conversely, when subjects pointed accurately, and thus more slowly, with the finger, the eyes started to move first, followed by the head and finger. When subjects were instructed to point to the same visual target only with their eyes and head, both fast and accurately, however, eye movement always started before head movement, regardless of speed-accuracy instructions. These results indicate that the behavior of the eye and head system can be altered by introducing arm movements. This, along with the variable movement initiation patterns, contradicts the idea that the eye, head, and hand system is controlled by a single motor program. The time of movement termination was also monitored, and across both experiments, the eyes always reached the target first, followed by the finger, and then the head. This finding suggests that movement termination patterns may be a fundamental control variable.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1989

Strategy and learning effects on perturbed movements: an electromyographic and kinematic study.

The effects of practice and movement strategy were studied in a goal-directed movement with different levels of perturbation applied in four independent groups (0%, 20%, 50% or 100%). The phase-plane trajectory data revealed that for all subjects there was a decrease in the mean trajectory variability with learning and that variability was affected by the level of uncertainty confronting the subjects. Both the average electromyographic (EMG) profiles and the mean subject variability for agonist and antagonist muscles decreased with learning. In each experimental group a specific interaction developed between reflex responses and voluntary activity to create a balanced level of EMG activity to improve the performance with learning.

Adult↗