This study addresses the demands of alternating bimanual syncopation, a coordination mode in which the two hands move in alternation while tapping in antiphase with a metronomic tone sequence. Musically trained participants were required to engage in alternating bimanual syncopation and five other coordination modes: unimanual syncopation where taps are made (with the left or right hand) after ...

Bimanual actions impose intermanual coordination demands not present during unimanual actions. We investigated the functional neuroanatomical correlates of these coordination demands in motor imagery (MI) of everyday actions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). For this, 17 participants imagined unimanual actions with the left and right hand as well as bimanual actions while unde...

The stability of single and bimanual (i.e., in-phase and antiphase) rhythmic finger movements was studied in 24 children with a developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and 24 matched controls from a dynamic pattern perspective. Stability was assessed by applying perturbations and measuring the time the system needed to return to its initial stability (i.e., the relaxation time). In addition, ...

Independent use of both hands is characteristic of human action in daily life. By nature, however, in-phase bimanual movements, for example clapping, are easier to accomplish than anti-phase movements, for example playing the piano. It is commonly agreed that interhemispheric interactions play a central role in the coordination of bimanual movements. However, the spatial, temporal, and physiolo...

The aim of this study is to establish the effects of stick use on rhythmic bimanual coordination in drummers. Eighteen drummers performed a rapid antiphase coordination task using their fingers and handheld drumsticks. We found no significant differences in the speed of tapping between finger and stick-use tapping, while stick-use tapping had a larger peak force and smaller variability in coord...

THE ease with which humans coordinate all their limbs is fascinating. Such a simplicity is the result of a complex process of motor coordination, i.e. the ability to resolve the biomechanical redundancy in an efficient and repeatable manner. Coordination enables a wide variety of everyday human activities from filling in a glass with water to pair figure skating. Therefore, it is highly desirab...

PURPOSE Development of objective criteria and optimum training protocols are priorities for robotic laparoscopy. However, studies that have attempted to objectify learning have been limited due to lack of task complexity and absence of comparisons between experts and novices. Our aim was to address these limitations and assess proficiency in robotic laparoscopy using bimanual inanimate tasks. ...