Multi-finger ab- and adduction strength and coordination

摘要

Simultaneous ab- and adduction of the fingers (finger spreading and finger squeezing) are fundamental to many prehension tasks. This is the first study to describe all finger forces during multi-finger ab-/adduction. Twenty one healthy subjects (12 female) produced maximal ab-/ adduction efforts against a stationary apparatus equipped with four independent multi-axis force transducers. Total force was computed as the sum of the absolute values of individual finger forces. The males were significantly stronger than the females, and adduction (squeezing) forces (42.4 N) were significantly greater than abduction forces (32.6 N). The relative contributions of individual fingers to the total force were consistent across the genders, implying that strength did not affect coordination. Ab-/adduction were coordinated symmetrically and multi-finger performance was not predictable from single finger strengths. The latter finding, in particular, indicates that multi-finger spreading/squeezing force measurements can provide information about hand function that cannot be derived from other tests.