Abstract
Bimanual coordination requires the production of two movement patterns simultaneously. The patterns may require the limbs to produce the same spatial–temporal sequence referred to as “in-phase”, may require the same sequences with different phase offsets, or may require one movement pattern to be performed more quickly than the other movement pattern. As an example, a continuous 1:2 (left/right) bimanual movement pattern would require the production of two movement cycles with the right hand/arm/finger coordinated with the production of one movement cycle with the left hand/arm/ finger. The literature has shown that a continuous 1:2 coordination pattern is relatively difficult to perform effectively and often requires several days of extended practice to acquire even a moderate level of proficiency. The difficulties in producing these coordination patterns have been attributed to a coalition of factors including phase attraction to in-phase and anti-phase patterns or neural cross-talk. In addition, cognitive explanations have been proposed which suggest that much of the difficulty is derived from perceptual and attentional constraints imposed by the testing protocols. This presentation addresses to actual experimental results of bimanual coordination and discussed these findings in association with the theoretical concepts.