A Perspective on Prosthetic Hands Control: From the Brain to the Hand

The human hand is a complex and versatile organ that enables humans to interact with the environment, communicate, create, and use tools. The control of the hand by the brain is a crucial aspect of human cognition and behaviour, but also a challenging problem for both neuroscience and engineering. T...

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Main Authors: Cosimo Gentile, Emanuele Gruppioni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-11-01
Series:Prosthesis
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1592/5/4/83
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author Cosimo Gentile
Emanuele Gruppioni
author_facet Cosimo Gentile
Emanuele Gruppioni
author_sort Cosimo Gentile
collection DOAJ
description The human hand is a complex and versatile organ that enables humans to interact with the environment, communicate, create, and use tools. The control of the hand by the brain is a crucial aspect of human cognition and behaviour, but also a challenging problem for both neuroscience and engineering. The aim of this study is to review the current state of the art in hand and grasp control from a neuroscientific perspective, focusing on the brain mechanisms that underlie sensory integration for hand control and the engineering implications for developing artificial hands that can mimic and interface with the human brain. The brain controls the hand by processing and integrating sensory information from vision, proprioception, and touch, using different neural pathways. The user’s intention can be obtained to control the artificial hand by using different interfaces, such as electromyography, electroneurography, and electroencephalography. This and other sensory information can be exploited by different learning mechanisms that can help the user adapt to changes in sensory inputs or outputs, such as reinforcement learning, motor adaptation, and internal models. This work summarizes the main findings and challenges of each aspect of hand and grasp control research and highlights the gaps and limitations of the current approaches. In the last part, some open questions and future directions for hand and grasp control research are suggested by emphasizing the need for a neuroscientific approach that can bridge the gap between the brain and the hand.
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spelling doaj.art-d4875e06b87149c1954217cf327e0a232023-12-22T14:37:53ZengMDPI AGProsthesis2673-15922023-11-01541184120510.3390/prosthesis5040083A Perspective on Prosthetic Hands Control: From the Brain to the HandCosimo Gentile0Emanuele Gruppioni1Centro Protesi Inail, Vigorso di Budrio, 40054 Bologna, ItalyCentro Protesi Inail, Vigorso di Budrio, 40054 Bologna, ItalyThe human hand is a complex and versatile organ that enables humans to interact with the environment, communicate, create, and use tools. The control of the hand by the brain is a crucial aspect of human cognition and behaviour, but also a challenging problem for both neuroscience and engineering. The aim of this study is to review the current state of the art in hand and grasp control from a neuroscientific perspective, focusing on the brain mechanisms that underlie sensory integration for hand control and the engineering implications for developing artificial hands that can mimic and interface with the human brain. The brain controls the hand by processing and integrating sensory information from vision, proprioception, and touch, using different neural pathways. The user’s intention can be obtained to control the artificial hand by using different interfaces, such as electromyography, electroneurography, and electroencephalography. This and other sensory information can be exploited by different learning mechanisms that can help the user adapt to changes in sensory inputs or outputs, such as reinforcement learning, motor adaptation, and internal models. This work summarizes the main findings and challenges of each aspect of hand and grasp control research and highlights the gaps and limitations of the current approaches. In the last part, some open questions and future directions for hand and grasp control research are suggested by emphasizing the need for a neuroscientific approach that can bridge the gap between the brain and the hand.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1592/5/4/83prosthesesprosthetic handcontrol strategyhuman handhuman brain
spellingShingle Cosimo Gentile
Emanuele Gruppioni
A Perspective on Prosthetic Hands Control: From the Brain to the Hand
Prosthesis
prostheses
prosthetic hand
control strategy
human hand
human brain
title A Perspective on Prosthetic Hands Control: From the Brain to the Hand
title_full A Perspective on Prosthetic Hands Control: From the Brain to the Hand
title_fullStr A Perspective on Prosthetic Hands Control: From the Brain to the Hand
title_full_unstemmed A Perspective on Prosthetic Hands Control: From the Brain to the Hand
title_short A Perspective on Prosthetic Hands Control: From the Brain to the Hand
title_sort perspective on prosthetic hands control from the brain to the hand
topic prostheses
prosthetic hand
control strategy
human hand
human brain
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1592/5/4/83
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