Human Fine-motor-skills in Weightlessness: Comparison of a Laboratory and an Everyday-like Context

NCT02566213 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: 10-084
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 18
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The human performance during weightlessness was tested in a multiplicity of laboratory experiments during parabolic flights and in space. It is therefore known that human fine motor skills as grasping are affected by the impact of changing gravity levels. However, because everyday life movements differ in several aspects from those done in an experimental lab situation, investigators do not know until know if this kind of movements is altered in the same extend. Fine motor skills seem to depend on the context in which they are made. Thus, the performance in weightlessness during everyday life could substantially differ from the results given by previous laboratory studies. This assumption will be tested in the present project, with subjects executing one and the same grasping movement in two different contexts, both in normal gravity conditions and in weightlessness. To that end, the investigators developed a new method which allows comparing the same grasping movements under different conditions.

Conditions

Healthy

Keywords

volunteers

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Gravity induced change in movement time (ms)

  Measured by 3D videocamera, it is the time between the beginning of the hand movement and the contact of the hand on the object

  baseline

• Gravity induced change in peak velocity of the hand (deg/sec)

  Measured by 3D videocamera

  baseline

• Gravity induced change in the maximum grip aperture of the hand (mm)

  Measured by 3D videocamera. It is the maximum distance between the first and the fifth digit before hand grasps the object

  baseline

• Gravity induced change in the initial force applied by the hand on the grasped object (newton)

  Force measured by a strain gauge

  baseline

Study Arms (1)

Motor skills measurements

OTHER

Other: Parabolic flight; Other: Motor skills measurements

Interventions

Parabolic flight OTHER

Motor skills measurements

Motor skills measurements OTHER

* the kinematics measurements of the right hand with a motion analysis system; * the measurements of forces applied by the hand on the object to be grasped and moved with a 6 degree of freedom force sensor; * the measurement of position of the moved object with an inductive position encoder.

Motor skills measurements

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• healthy volunteers (men or women),
• aged from 18 to 65,
• right handed,
• affiliated to a Social Security system and, for non-French resident, holding an European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
• who accept to take part in the study,
• who have given their written stated consent,
• who have passed a medical examination similar to a standard aviation medical examination for private pilot aptitude. There will be no additional test performed for subject selection.

You may not qualify if:

• pregnant women.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Caen: lead

Study Sites (1)

Umr Ucbn/Inserm U1075 Comete

Caen, Basse-Normandie, 14032, France

RECRUITING

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 28, 2015
• First Posted: October 2, 2015
• Study Start: October 1, 2010
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2016
• Last Updated: October 2, 2015

Record last verified: 2015-09

Locations

FR (1)