Somatosensory and Motor Functions in Smartphone Systematic Users and Non-Users

摘要

We investigated the effect of systematic smartphone usage on the motor and somatosensory finger functions in healthy subjects. Seventeen right-handed healthy volunteers participated in the study. A somewhat better finger sensorimotor function was observed in smartphone non-users. Within the group of smartphone systematic users, the amount of smartphone usage negatively correlated with the spatial discrimination threshold in the fingers. These findings suggest that the input method of the device may not be the only factor influencing the sensorimotor function (other structural differences of the input may also contribute), and that frequent use of the fingers might enhance spatial discrimination. The respective studies can help us to understand interaction between the sensorimotor function and tools and give some insight on how newly developed tools may affect the human brain.