Dr. Richard C. Nelson: The Founding Father of Biomechanics.

Recollections on meetings with Dick Nelson in the 1970s, his interactions with Soviet authorities, his impact on data collection at Olympic Games, and his work as the President of the International Society of Biomechanics.

Systematic, Unintended Drifts in the Cyclic Force Produced with the Fingertips.

Cyclic isometric finger-force patterns established using visual feedback show systematic drifts when the feedback is removed. Force changes at multiple time scales and in opposite directions have been reported. For further characterization of these drifts, healthy subjects produced isometric, cyclic finger force with and without visual feedback at various initial amplitudes and frequencies.

Optimality and stability of intentional and unintentional actions: I. Origins of drifts in performance.

We address the nature of unintentional changes in performance in two papers. This first paper tested a hypothesis that unintentional changes in performance variables during continuous tasks without visual feedback are due to two processes. First, there is a drift of the referent coordinate for the salient performance variable toward the actual coordinate of the effector.

Optimality and stability of intentional and unintentional actions: II. Motor equivalence and structure of variance.

We address the nature of unintentional changes in performance in two papers. This second paper tested hypotheses related to stability of task-specific performance variables estimated using the framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis. Our first hypothesis was that selective stability of performance variables would be observed even when the magnitudes of those variables drifted unintentionally because of the lack of visual feedback.

The synergic control of multi-finger force production: stability of explicit and implicit task components.

Manipulating objects with the hands requires the accurate production of resultant forces including shear forces; effective control of these shear forces also requires the production of internal forces normal to the surface of the object(s) being manipulated. In the present study, we investigated multi-finger synergies stabilizing shear and normal components of force, as well as drifts in both components of force, during isometric pressing tasks requiring a specific magnitude of shear force production. We hypothesized that shear and normal forces would evolve similarly in time and also show similar stability properties as assessed by the decomposition of inter-trial variance within the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis.

Unsteady steady-states: central causes of unintentional force drift.

We applied the theory of synergies to analyze the processes that lead to unintentional decline in isometric fingertip force when visual feedback of the produced force is removed. We tracked the changes in hypothetical control variables involved in single fingertip force production based on the equilibrium-point hypothesis, namely the fingertip referent coordinate (R ) and its apparent stiffness (C ). The system's state is defined by a point in the {R ; C } space.

Analytical Inverse Optimization in Two-Hand Prehensile Tasks.

The authors explored application of analytical inverse optimization (ANIO) method to the normal finger forces in unimanual and bimanual prehensile tasks with discrete and continuously changing constraints. The subjects held an instrumented handle vertically with one or two hands. The external torque and grip force changed across trials or within a trial continuously.

On the nature of unintentional action: a study of force/moment drifts during multifinger tasks.

We explored the origins of unintentional changes in performance during accurate force production in isometric conditions seen after turning visual feedback off. The idea of control with referent spatial coordinates suggests that these phenomena could result from drifts of the referent coordinate for the effector. Subjects performed accurate force/moment production tasks by pressing with the fingers of a hand on force sensors.

Interpersonal synergies: static prehension tasks performed by two actors.

We investigated multidigit synergies stabilizing components of the resultant force vector during joint performance of a static prehension task by two persons as compared to similar tasks performed by a single person using both hands. Subjects transferred the instrumented handle from the right hand to the left hand (one-person condition) or passed that handle to another person (two-person condition) while keeping the handle's position and orientation stationary. Only three digits were involved per hand, the thumb, the index finger, and the middle finger; the forces and moments produced by the digits were measured by six-component sensors.

The nature of constant and cyclic force production: unintentional force-drift characteristics.

We explored unintentional changes in forces during performance of constant and cyclic force-production tasks (F-tasks) after visual feedback removal. Based on earlier studies, we expected all force parameters to drop exponentially with time. We also explored possible role of working memory in the force drop phenomena.

Unintentional changes in the apparent stiffness of the multi-joint limb.

We explored the phenomenon of unintentional changes in the apparent stiffness of the human arm produced by transient changes in the external force. The subjects performed a positional task against a constant baseline force and were instructed not to react to changes in the force. A HapticMaster robot produced a smooth force increase (a perturbation) leading to a hand movement, followed by a dwell time.

Force-stabilizing synergies in motor tasks involving two actors.

We investigated the ability of two persons to produce force-stabilizing synergies in accurate multi-finger force production tasks under visual feedback on the total force only. The subjects produced a time profile of total force (the sum of two hand forces in one-person tasks and the sum of two subject forces in two-person tasks) consisting of a ramp-up, steady-state, and ramp-down segments; the steady-state segment was interrupted in the middle by a quick force pulse. Analyses of the structure of inter-trial finger force variance, motor equivalence, anticipatory synergy adjustments (ASAs), and the unintentional drift of the sharing pattern were performed.

Task-specific stability of multifinger steady-state action.

The authors explored task-specific stability during accurate multifinger force production tasks with different numbers of instructed fingers. Subjects performed steady-state isometric force production tasks and were instructed not to interfere voluntarily with transient lifting-and-lowering perturbations applied to the index finger. The main results were (a) intertrial variance in the space of finger modes at steady states was larger within the subspace that had no effect on the total force (the uncontrolled manifold [UCM]); (b) perturbations caused large deviations of finger modes within the UCM (motor equivalence); and (c) deviations caused by the perturbation showed larger variance within the UCM.

Processes underlying unintentional finger-force changes in the absence of visual feedback.

Previous reports show that the forces produced by the fingers of one hand drop exponentially over time in the absence of visual feedback on the forces. We study the force production by the index fingers of both hands with no visual feedback. Subjects produced a specified total force with a specific contribution from each finger by pressing on force sensors.

Learning to combine high variability with high precision: lack of transfer to a different task.

The authors studied effects of practicing a 4-finger accurate force production task on multifinger coordination quantified within the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis. During practice, task instability was modified by changing visual feedback gain based on accuracy of performance. The authors also explored the retention of these effects, and their transfer to a prehensile task.

Motor equivalence during multi-finger accurate force production.

We explored stability of multi-finger cyclical accurate force production action by analysis of responses to small perturbations applied to one of the fingers and inter-cycle analysis of variance. Healthy subjects performed two versions of the cyclical task, with and without an explicit target. The "inverse piano" apparatus was used to lift/lower a finger by 1 cm over 0.

Stability of multifinger action in different state spaces.

We investigated stability of action by a multifinger system with three methods: analysis of intertrial variance, application of transient perturbations, and analysis of the system's motion in different state spaces. The "inverse piano" device was used to apply transient (lifting-and-lowering) perturbations to individual fingers during single- and two-finger accurate force production tasks. In each trial, the perturbation was applied either to a finger explicitly involved in the task or one that was not.

Postural sway and perceived comfort in pointing tasks.

In this study, we explored relations between indices of postural sway and perceived comfort during pointing postures performed by standing participants. The participants stood on a force plate, grasped a pointer with the dominant (right) hand, and pointed to targets located at four positions and at two distances from the body. We quantified postural sway over 60-s intervals at each pointing posture, and found no effects of target location or distance on postural sway indices.

Internal forces during static prehension: effects of age and grasp configuration.

The authors studied effects of healthy aging on 3 components of the internal force vector during static prehensile tasks. Young and older subjects held an instrumented handle using a 5-digit prismatic grasp under different digit configurations and external torques. Across digit configurations, older subjects showed larger internal normal (grip) and tangential (load-resisting) digit force components and larger internal moment of force.

Factors affecting grip force: anatomy, mechanics, and referent configurations.

The extrinsic digit muscles naturally couple wrist action and grip force in prehensile tasks. We explored the effects of wrist position on the steady-state grip force and grip-force change during imposed changes in the grip aperture [apparent stiffness (AS)]. Subjects held an instrumented handle steady using a prismatic five-digit grip.

Prehension synergies during fatigue of a single digit: adaptations in control with referent configurations.

The effects of muscle fatigue on the stability of precision grasps are not well known. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of exercise-induced fatigue of a digit on prehension synergies in a static precision grasp. One group of participants performed the fatiguing exercise using the thumb (group-thumb) and the second group performed the exercise using the index finger (group-index).

Finger enslaving in the dominant and non-dominant hand.

During single-finger force production, the non-instructed fingers unintentionally produce force (finger enslaving). In this study, enslaving effects were compared between the dominant and non-dominant hands. The test consisted of a series of maximum voluntary contractions with different finger combinations.

Mechanical properties of the human hand digits: age-related differences.

Background: Mechanical properties of human digits may have significant implications for the hand function. We quantified several mechanical characteristics of individual digits in young and older adults.

Methods: Digit tip friction was measured at several normal force values using a method of induced relative motion between the digit tip and the object surface.

Enslaving in a serial chain: interactions between grip force and hand force in isometric tasks.

This study was motivated by the double action of extrinsic hand muscles that produce grip force and also contribute to wrist torque. We explored interactions between grip force and wrist torque in isometric force production tasks. In particular, we tested a hypothesis that an intentional change in one of the two kinetic variables would produce an unintentional change in the other (enslaving).

Equifinality and its violations in a redundant system: multifinger accurate force production.

We explored a hypothesis that transient perturbations applied to a redundant system result in equifinality in the space of task-related performance variables but not in the space of elemental variables. The subjects pressed with four fingers and produced an accurate constant total force level. The "inverse piano" device was used to lift and lower one of the fingers smoothly.