Robotic Guidance: Velocity Profile Symmetry and Online Feedback Use during Manual Aiming

• Main Author: Srubiski, Shirley Luba
• Other Authors: Tremblay, Luc
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Robotic Guidance; Proprioception; Manual Aiming; Tendon Vibration; Vision; 0623
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/33542

The current study evaluated whether robotic guidance can influence movement planning and/or the use of online proprioceptive feedback. Participants were divided into three groups wherein they practiced an aiming task unassisted or via a robotic device that led them through a trajectory with an asymmetric or symmetric velocity profile. Baseline performance was measured prior to training and a post-test included control and tendon vibration trials. Temporal, spatial, and kinematic variables were used to assess planning and online control mechanisms. Results indicated that tendon vibration altered the way individuals planned their movements and used online sensory feedback. Robotic-guided groups appeared to use online feedback to a lesser extent than the unassisted group during tendon vibration trials, based on kinematic data. Individuals may become less inclined to use erroneous proprioceptive feedback following robotic guidance, supporting the potential benefit of robotics in neuro-motor rehabilitation for those with proprioceptive deficits.