Biomimetic versus arbitrary motor control strategies for bionic hand skill learning

Hunter R. Schone*, Malcolm Udeozor, Mae Moninghoff, Beth Rispoli, James Vandersea, Blair Lock, Levi Hargrove, Tamar R. Makin*, Chris I. Baker

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

A long-standing engineering ambition has been to design anthropomorphic bionic limbs: devices that look like and are controlled in the same way as the biological body (biomimetic). The untested assumption is that biomimetic motor control enhances device embodiment, learning, generalization and automaticity. To test this, we compared biomimetic and non-biomimetic control strategies for non-disabled participants when learning to control a wearable myoelectric bionic hand operated by an eight-channel electromyography pattern-recognition system. We compared motor learning across days and behavioural tasks for two training groups: biomimetic (mimicking the desired bionic hand gesture with biological hand) and arbitrary control (mapping an unrelated biological hand gesture with the desired bionic gesture). For both trained groups, training improved bionic limb control, reduced cognitive reliance and increased embodiment over the bionic hand. Biomimetic users had more intuitive and faster control early in training. Arbitrary users matched biomimetic performance later in training. Furthermore, arbitrary users showed increased generalization to a new control strategy. Collectively, our findings suggest that biomimetic and arbitrary control strategies provide different benefits. The optimal strategy is probably not strictly biomimetic, but rather a flexible strategy within the biomimetic-to-arbitrary spectrum, depending on the user, available training opportunities and user requirements.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1108-1123
Number of pages16
JournalNature human behaviour
Volume8
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2024

Funding

C.I.B. and H.R.S. are supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health (ZIAMH 002893). T.R.M. was supported by the European Research Council (715022 Embodied Tech). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the article. We thank J. Ingelholm for technical support; M. Controzzi and F. Clemente for sharing the original design of the virtual eggs; L. Emmrich (\u00D6ssur) for consultation on the bionic hand system design and training paradigm; A. Moore (\u00D6ssur) and N. Wagner (\u00D6ssur) for fabrication of the bionic hand system; L. Teichmann for providing technical and conceptual support throughout the study; the OP4 clinic nursing staff for their patience and support for our 60 participants; M. Reel, our nurse practitioner, for his commitment and patience with all the participant visits; the Medical Center Orthotics and Prosthetics (MCOP) for help in device fabrication and technical support; and the technical support team at Coapt for providing regular technical support for the EMG controllers. T.R. Makin was supported by the European Research Council (715022 Embodied Tech), Wellcome Trust (215575/Z/19/Z) and Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00030/10).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Biomimetic versus arbitrary motor control strategies for bionic hand skill learning'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this