Impact of Handedness Consistency on Bimanual and Unimanual Continuous Movements

Bimanual coordination is an essential human function requiring efficient interhemispheric communication to produce coordinated movements. Previous research suggests a “bimanual advantage” phenomenon, where completing synchronized bimanual tasks results in less variability than unimanual tasks. Additionally, of hand dominance has been shown to influence coordinated performance. The present study examined the bimanual advantage in individuals with consistent and inconsistent handedness. It was predicted that participants with consistent handedness would not display a bimanual advantage unlike those with inconsistent handedness. Fifty-six young adults completed a finger-tapping paradigm in five conditions: unimanual tapping with either left or right hand, in-phase bimanual tapping, and out-of phase bimanual tapping led by either left or right hand. Results were not consistent with the hypothesis that participants with consistent handedness displayed the “bimanual advantage”. However, the “bimanual advantage” was not evident for the inconsistent handers when the temporal consistency was measured with either the left or right hand only. Overall, the “bimanual advantage” may be dependent upon consistency of hand preference, as well as the direction of hand dominance.     

Force Increase in a Repetitive Motor Task Inducing Motor Fatigue

To evaluate task induced motor fatigue in a well-established finger tapping task, we analyzed tapping parameters and included the time course of measures of force. We hypothesized that a decline in tapping force would reflect task induced motor fatigue, defined by a lengthening of inter-tap intervals (ITI). A secondary aim was to investigate the reliability of tapping data acquisition with the force sensor. Results show that, as expected, tapping speed decreased linearly over time, due to both an increase of ITI and tap duration. In contrast, tapping force increased non-linearly over time and was uncorrelated to changes in tapping speed. Force data could serve as a measure to characterize task induced motor fatigue. Force sensors can assess a decline in tapping speed as well as an independent increase of tapping force. We argue that the increase of force reflects central compensation, i.e. perception of fatigue, due to an increase in task effort and difficulty.     

Families left behind at the source of migration: implications for career guidance practitioners

Issues surrounding migration are receiving unprecedented attention at the global, regional, as well as national levels. However, a review of the literature shows that there is more focus on international migration compared to internal migration. Further, there is more emphasis on issues related to the migration destination rather than those at the source of migration. Using the cultural preparation process model as a framework, this paper aims to understand the career and livelihood planning needs of those who are left behind. The left-behind families of pine resin tappers in the Changar region of the Indian Himalayas are presented as a case study to draw the attention of career guidance and counselling professionals to this unattended population.