FOREARM MUSCLE ACTIVATION DURING POWER GRIP AND RELEASE

The position of the hand during power grip is well-described, but the normal phasic activity of the extrinsic forearm muscles during power g rip and release is unknown. People with neurologic impairment may have inadequate power grip or release because of abnormal muscle timing. T his study describes the timing of the Forearm muscles in 10 normal sub jects during power grip and release, which was evaluated using electro myography. During power grip, subjects had consistent timing patterns for extrinsic finger motors and different but individually consistent patterns for wrist motors. This finding supports our hypothesis that d ifferent individuals habitually use a specific motor strategy and an i ntact central nervous system allows them to change their motor strateg y to adapt to new environmental parameters. Copyright (C) 1998 by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.