Grip forces exerted against stationary held objects during gravity changes |
| |
Authors: | J Hermsdörfer C Marquardt J Philipp A Zierdt D Nowak S Glasauer N Mai |
| |
Institution: | Clinical Neuropsychology Research Group, Department of Neuropsychology, Krankenhaus München-Bogenhausen, Dachauerstr. 164, D-80992 München, Germany e-mail: ekn@extern.lrz-muenchen.de Tel.: +49-89-1577895, Fax: +49-89-156781, DE Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t München, Klinikum Gro?hadern, Marchioninistr. 23, D-81377 München, Germany, DE
|
| |
Abstract: | In the present study, grip forces exerted against a stationary held object were recorded during parabolic flights. Such flight
maneuvers induce changes of gravity with two periods of hypergravity, associated with a doubling of normal terrestrial gravity,
and a 20 s period of microgravity. Accordingly, the object’s weight changed from being twice as heavy as normally experienced
and weightless. Grip-force recordings demonstrated that force control was seriously disturbed only during the first experience
of hyper- and microgravity, with the grip forces being exceedingly high and yielding irregular fluctuations. Thereafter, however,
grip force traces were smooth, the force level was scaled to the object’s weight under normal and high-G conditions, and the
grip force changed in parallel with the weight during the transitions between hyper- and microgravity. In addition, during
weightlessness, when virtually no force was necessary to stabilize the object, a low force was established, which obviously
represented a reasonable safety margin for preventing possible perturbations. Thus, all relevant aspects of grip-force control
observed under normal gravity conditions were preserved during gravity changes induced by parabolic flights. Hence, grip-force
control mechanisms were able to cope with hyper- and microgravity, either by incorporating relevant receptor signals, such
as those originating from cutaneous mechanoreceptors, or by adequately including perceived gravity signals into control programs.
However, the adaptation to the uncommon gravity conditions was not complete following the first experience; finer tuning of
the control system to both hyper- and microgravity continued over the measurement interval, presumably with a longer observation
period being necessary before a stable performance can be reached.
Received: 23 April 1998 / Accepted: 20 December 1998 |
| |
Keywords: | Grip force Force control Parabolic flight Microgravity Hypergravity Human |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|