Robotically Augmented Mental Practice

Subjects will relax their muscles and perform conventional visual motor imagery (MI). With the guidance of audio instruction, the subjects will imagine the grasp and release motions with the right arm for 2 s in each motion in their mind. There will be no proximal muscle contraction.

The same MI procedure as Visual MI will be performed, except that the subjects will focus on the kinesthetic sensation that they would feel with the imagined motions.

Subjects will perform robotically augmented mental practice for grasp and release motions with the activation control of the proximal muscles. During this task, subjects will also imagine the kinesthetic sensation that they would feel with the corresponding motions with the right arm.

Subjects will perform the Robot-Hand Interaction without MI.

Subjects will interact with visual feedback of virtual robot actions on a monitor.

Subjects will relax their muscles and focus on observing the computer-controlled grasp and release actions of the robotic hand.

Subjects will rest without a task.