Do Postures of Distal Effectors Affect the Control of Actions of Other Distal Effectors? Evidence for a System of Interactions between Hand and Mouth
2011

Do Hand Postures Affect Mouth Grasping?

Sample size: 50 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Gentilucci Maurizio, Campione Giovanna Cristina

Primary Institution: Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

Hypothesis

Do postures assumed by distal effectors affect the control of actions of other distal effectors?

Conclusion

The study found that hand postures influence mouth shaping during grasping, while mouth postures affect hand grasping.

Supporting Evidence

  • Hand postures influenced mouth shaping during grasping.
  • Mouth postures affected finger shaping during hand grasping.
  • Foot postures did not affect hand grasping kinematics.
  • Vowel pronunciation influenced finger shaping during grasping.

Takeaway

When you hold your hand in a certain way, it can change how your mouth moves when you try to grab something, and vice versa.

Methodology

Participants performed grasping tasks with their hand and mouth while assuming different postures, and their movements were recorded and analyzed.

Potential Biases

Potential bias due to the small sample size and the specific demographic of participants.

Limitations

The study focused only on healthy right-handed individuals, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.

Participant Demographics

50 right-handed volunteers (34 females, 16 males, ages 22-30 years).

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.001

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0019793

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