Tool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters

Abstract For most people, human tool use is inextricably entwined with manual dexterity. This folk belief is widespread among scientists too. In this line, human tool use is based on motor programs about how the hand interacts with tools, implying that the use of end-effectors other than the hand sh...

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Autores principales:	François Osiurak, Mathieu Lesourd, Ludovic Delporte, Yves Rossetti
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2018
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7cf0023cd1b4468eba631e568f7d6d65
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7cf0023cd1b4468eba631e568f7d6d652021-12-02T11:40:37ZTool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters10.1038/s41598-018-28759-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/7cf0023cd1b4468eba631e568f7d6d652018-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28759-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract For most people, human tool use is inextricably entwined with manual dexterity. This folk belief is widespread among scientists too. In this line, human tool use is based on motor programs about how the hand interacts with tools, implying that the use of end-effectors other than the hand should generate motor control difficulties (e.g., inability to reproduce a specific tool-use action over time), because these so-called programs characterize the spatiotemporal parameters of hand movements, but not of other end-effectors. To test this, we asked participants to perform three tool-use actions (e.g., pounding a nail) with four end-effectors (i.e., right foot, right elbow, left hand, right hand). We show that participants not only spontaneously performed the tool-use actions effectively, but also crucially kept tools’ spatiotemporal parameters constant among the end-effectors. This phenomenon, which we call poly-dexterity, is at odds with the view that the human brain stores hand-centered motor programs for tool use. Poly-dexterity is instead consistent with the idea that, once the tool-use action is formed mentally, general motor programs can be applied to a variety of end-effectors. Reversing the usual evolutionary perspective, our findings support that, in the course of evolution, manual dexterity has come after tool-use skills.François OsiurakMathieu LesourdLudovic DelporteYves RossettiNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q François Osiurak Mathieu Lesourd Ludovic Delporte Yves Rossetti Tool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters
description	Abstract For most people, human tool use is inextricably entwined with manual dexterity. This folk belief is widespread among scientists too. In this line, human tool use is based on motor programs about how the hand interacts with tools, implying that the use of end-effectors other than the hand should generate motor control difficulties (e.g., inability to reproduce a specific tool-use action over time), because these so-called programs characterize the spatiotemporal parameters of hand movements, but not of other end-effectors. To test this, we asked participants to perform three tool-use actions (e.g., pounding a nail) with four end-effectors (i.e., right foot, right elbow, left hand, right hand). We show that participants not only spontaneously performed the tool-use actions effectively, but also crucially kept tools’ spatiotemporal parameters constant among the end-effectors. This phenomenon, which we call poly-dexterity, is at odds with the view that the human brain stores hand-centered motor programs for tool use. Poly-dexterity is instead consistent with the idea that, once the tool-use action is formed mentally, general motor programs can be applied to a variety of end-effectors. Reversing the usual evolutionary perspective, our findings support that, in the course of evolution, manual dexterity has come after tool-use skills.
format	article
author	François Osiurak Mathieu Lesourd Ludovic Delporte Yves Rossetti
author_facet	François Osiurak Mathieu Lesourd Ludovic Delporte Yves Rossetti
author_sort	François Osiurak
title	Tool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters
title_short	Tool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters
title_full	Tool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters
title_fullStr	Tool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters
title_full_unstemmed	Tool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters
title_sort	tool use and generalized motor programs: we all are natural born poly-dexters
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/7cf0023cd1b4468eba631e568f7d6d65
work_keys_str_mv	AT francoisosiurak tooluseandgeneralizedmotorprogramsweallarenaturalbornpolydexters AT mathieulesourd tooluseandgeneralizedmotorprogramsweallarenaturalbornpolydexters AT ludovicdelporte tooluseandgeneralizedmotorprogramsweallarenaturalbornpolydexters AT yvesrossetti tooluseandgeneralizedmotorprogramsweallarenaturalbornpolydexters
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Tool Use and Generalized Motor Programs: We All Are Natural Born Poly-Dexters

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