Use of tactile afferent information in sequential finger movements

Abstract

We have investigated how tactile afferent information contributes to the generation of sequences of skilled finger movements by anesthetizing the right index fingers of experienced typists. Subjects were asked to type phrases in which the right index finger was used only once every seven to 12 keypresses. The time at which each key was depressed was recorded with a digital timer, and the translational and rotational motion of the fingers and wrist of the right hand were recorded optoelectronically from the location of reflective markers placed on the fingers. Midway through the experiment, a local anesthetic was injected at the base of the distal phalange of the right index finger. Following digital anesthesia, error rates increased considerably, mainly due to the diminished accuracy of movements of the anesthetized finger. The typing intervals following keypresses with the anesthetized fingertip were unaffected by the removal of tactile information. When errors occurred during control trials, the intervals immediately following the errors were greatly prolonged. However, errors produced with the anesthetized right index finger did not influence the timing of subsequent keypresses, implying that lack of tactile cues affected error recognition. The movement patterns during keypresses were similar before and after digital anesthesia for some subjects, while a less pronounced flexion-extension movement was seen in other subjects. The results suggest that tactile afferent information is not essential for initiating movement segments in a sequence. Rather, they emphasize the importance of this information for ensuring movement accuracy and for detecting errors.