Moving from stroke to development : a deconstruction of skilled reaching in humans

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the organization of the movements of skilled

reaching. Our knowledge of reaching behaviour has been limited to an understanding of

specific actions. Results from this thesis describe how reaching is the product of

interactions of various parameters that assemble in an integrative way in ontogeny, yet

can become dismantled on one level, or generally, throughout multiple levels of what

constitutes the behaviour after stroke in adults. These findings demonstrate that skilled

reaching constitutes motor parameters that may not be visible in a healthy adult, but that

function through development, and by inhibitory systems in adults, to create a smooth

and finely articulated action. An examination of the movement patterns of reaching

within the full context of the behaviour can be applied to therapeutic strategies for motor

disorders and, most importantly, deepen our understanding of the relations between

reaching and cognition.