Device and Method to Quantify and Extract Sensorimotor Circuitry

Abstract:
The device consists of a set of hinged spokes with fingerpads that a person grasps with the fingers, one finger per spoke, and attempts to manipulate the device. The fingerpads are instrumented to sense finger motions and forces, and the hinge is able to record and actuate the rotation of the spokes. The task of manipulating the device is challenging to the sensorimotor system because it requires the forces and motions of the fingers to be appropriately regulated to respond to each other, the behavior of the hinge, or any other external and internal perturbations. The time history of the recorded signals contains the necessary information to reconstruct the sensory and motor interactions to accomplish this task, or to identify why the task failed. Engineering analysis can then be used to propose mechanism that explain these recorded signals, and in so doing, describe the functional features of the sensorimotor circuitry of the user.