Article

BACKGROUND: To provide an alternative motor modality for control, navigation, and
communication in individuals suffering from impairment or disability in hand
functions, a Tongue Drive System (TDS) has been developed that allows for real
time tracking of tongue motion in an unobtrusive, wireless, and wearable device
that utilizes the magnetic field generated by a miniature disk shaped magnetic
tracer attached to the tip of the tongue. The purpose of the study was to compare
the influence of a concurrent motor or cognitive task on various aspects of
simple movement control between hand and tongue using the TDS technology.
METHODS: Thirteen young able-bodied adults performed rapid and slow goal-directed
movements of hand and tongue (with TDS) with and without a concurrent motor (hand
or tongue) or cognitive (arithmetic and memory) task. Changes in reaction time,
completion time, speed, correctness, accuracy, variability of displacement, and
variability of time due to the addition of a concurrent task were compared
between hand and tongue. RESULTS: The influence of an additional concurrent task
on motor performance was similar between the hand and tongue for slow movement in
controlling their displacement. In rapid movement with a concurrent motor task,
most aspects of motor performance were degraded in hand, while tongue speed
during rapid continuous task was maintained. With a concurrent cognitive task,
most aspects of motor performance were degraded in tongue, while hand accuracy
during the rapid discrete task and hand speed during the rapid continuous task
were maintained. CONCLUSION: Rapid goal-directed hand and tongue movements were
more consistently susceptible to interference from concurrent motor and cognitive
tasks, respectively, compared with the other movement.

Langue : ANGLAIS