Dexterous manipulation: Bridging the gap between hand kinematics and kinetics

In this chapter, the author discusses dexterous manipulation by integrating experimental approaches and behavioral models that can capture such continuum. He provides a brief review of research on grasp kinematics and kinetics and also discusses the functional continuum between these two domains. The grasp kinematics and kinetics have provided significant insights into neural control of grasping and manipulation. The act of reaching towards a tool or an object is often motivated, and followed by a manipulation, through which the object position or orientation is changed. The object property is changed unexpectedly, several nodes within the fronto-parietal network have been shown to be involved in modulating digit forces for grasping and manipulation. During object grasping and manipulation, the central nervous system relies on visual object attributes such as size, shape, and orientation to shape the hand in preparation for a grasp.