2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Characteristics of Handwriting Motion and Indicators of Dexterity
| Project/Area Number |
15500384
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
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| Research Institution | Kyorin University |
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Principal Investigator |
OKAJIMA Yasutomo Kyorin University, School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (50160669)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
HARADA Takako Kyorin University, School of Medicine, Assistant Professor, 医学部, 助手 (80338269)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2004
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| Keywords | Handwriting / Handedness / Motor learning / Motion analysis / Dexterity |
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| Research Abstract |
This study was intended to find three-dimensional parameters of handwriting which could discriminate handwriting with the right from left hand in the normal subjects and show handwriting characteristics in the patients with hemiparesis. Participants wrote a Japanese syllabary character in squares of three different sizes as they normally would write it. Then, they trace the same Japanese character of the same three different sizes. The time to write a character, length of the written character, the parameters related with acceleration and jerk, the diameter of the pen-tip, index finger base, and the wrist trajectories were computed. The ratios of the diameter of the index finger and the wrist trajectories were defined respectively as those divided by that of the pen-tip trajectory. When the ratio is near zero, the pen tip moves more actively than the finger or wrist indicating capability of independent/dexterous movement of the thumb and fingers for handwriting.
The larger the character size, the faster the pen-tip speed in the normal subjects. Thus, the time to write a character was kept constant. Parameters derived from acceleration and jerk of the pen tip showed unsmooth movement of handwriting in some patients. The length of the written character divided by the character diameter showed sway or redundancy of the lines of the character in some patients with sensory disturbance. Regardless of writing or tracing, the ratio of the trajectory size for the left hand was larger than that for the right, and that for the larger size than that for the smaller. In other words, writing or tracing a small or regular-sized character with the right hand is well-acquired and proficient. In the right-handed hemiparetic patients without sensory disturbance, the ratio was similar to that in the normal subjects even though writing and tracing with the right hand were slower those with the left.
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Research Products
(6 results)
