The left cerebral hemisphere may be dominant for the control of bimanual symmetric reach-to-grasp movements.

Previous research has established that the left cerebral hemisphere is dominant for the control of continuous bimanual movements. The lateralisation of motor control for discrete bimanual movements, in contrast, is underexplored. The purpose of the current study was to investigate which (if either) hemisphere is dominant for discrete bimanual movements. Twenty-one participants made bimanual reach-to-grasp movements towards pieces of candy. Participants grasped the candy to either place it in their mouths (grasp-to-eat) or in a receptacle near their mouths (grasp-to-place). Research has shown smaller maximum grip apertures (MGAs) for unimanual grasp-to-eat movements than unimanual grasp-to-place movements when controlled by the left hemisphere. In Experiment 1, participants made bimanual symmetric movements where both hands made grasp-to-eat or grasp-to-place movements. We hypothesised that a left hemisphere dominance for bimanual movements would cause smaller MGAs in both hands during bimanual grasp-to-eat movements compared to those in bimanual grasp-to-place movements. The results revealed that MGAs were indeed smaller for bimanual grasp-to-eat movements than grasp-to-place movements. This supports that the left hemisphere may be dominant for the control of bimanual symmetric movements, which agrees with studies on continuous bimanual movements. In Experiment 2, participants made bimanual asymmetric movements where one hand made a grasp-to-eat movement while the other hand made a grasp-to-place movement. The results failed to support the potential predictions of left hemisphere dominance, right hemisphere dominance, or contralateral control.

The visual and haptic contributions to hand perception.

Previous research has found that the perception of our hands is distorted. The characteristics of this distortion are an overestimation of hand width and an underestimation of finger length. The present study examined the role that different sensory modalities (vision and/or haptics) play in the perception of our hands. Participants pointed to their concealed hand in one of three groups: Vision+Haptics, Vision-only, or Haptics-only. Participants in the Vision+Haptics group had vision (non-informative) of the experimental setup and of the pointing hand, but no vision of the hand being estimated. They also experienced haptic feedback as the palm of the hand was in contact with the undersurface of a tabletop, where the estimations were made. Participants in the Vision-only group, instead of placing the hand to be estimated underneath the tabletop, they placed it behind their backs. Participants in this group were asked to imagine as if the hand was under the table when making their estimations. In the Haptics-only group, participants completed the task with the hand underneath the tabletop (as in the Vision+Haptics group) but did so while wearing a blindfold (no vision). All participants estimated the position of ten landmarks on the hand: the fingertip and the metacarpophalangeal joint of each digit. Hand maps were constructed using a 3D motion capture system. Participants in the Haptics-only group produced the most accurate hand maps. We discuss the possibility that vision interferes with somatosensory processing.