FUNCTIONAL EFFECT OF SHORT-TERM IMMOBILIZATION: KINEMATIC CHANGES AND RECOVERY ON REACHING-TO-GRASP

Abstract Although previous investigations agree in showing significant cortical modifications related to short-term limb immobilization, little is known about the functional changes induced by non-use. To address this issue, we studied the kinematic effect of 10 h of hand immobilization. In order to prevent any movement, right handed healthy participants wore on their dominant hand a soft bandage. They were requested to perform the same reaching-to-grasping task immediately after immobilization, 1 day before (baseline 1) and in other two following days without non-use (baseline 2 and baseline 3). While no differences were found among baseline conditions, an increase of the total duration of…