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THE EFFECT OF FATIGUE ON NEUROMUSCULAR COUPLING IN PRINT AND CURSIVE HANDWRITING

Abstract

Alexandra Harrison, Lorynn Saxton, Timothy Cleveland, Rebecca Rogers, Christopher Ballmann, FACSM, Justin Moody. Samford University, Birmingham, AL.

BACKGROUND: Handwriting is a skill that is taught from elementary school and is refined throughout the lifespan. Although the use of electronic devices has grown in recent years, handwriting is considered essential for day-to-day life. Handwriting is a crucial communication skill involving fine motor control which can be subject to fatigue over long durations. A decrease in muscular activity or increase in cortical brain activity is known to infer neuromuscular fatigue. Throughout the literature, fatigue has been measured through such as brain activity, muscle activity, pain, and rate of perceived exertion. While research has shown the differences in print and cursive handwriting, most focus on populations with disabilities. Moreover, few studies have examined neuromuscular coupling, or lack thereof, as a quantifiable measure of fatigue. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the neuromuscular coupling observed in cursive vs print handwriting in a fatigued vs non-fatigued state. METHODS: Twelve male college-aged (18-22) participants were recruited for this study. Participants were fitted with an electroencephalography (EEG) cap and electromyography (EMG). Following this, participants wrote a randomly generated 100-word paragraph in either cursive or print. Next, the participant’s writing hand was fatigued (fatigue was defined as greater than 30% decrease in grip strength) and the participant immediately wrote a second 100-word paragraph. Neuromuscular coupling was defined as the area of cohesion between EEG and EMG. Additionally, overall speed, letter size, and legibility were measured pre- and post-fatigue. RESULTS: No significant difference in neuromuscular coupling was observed pre-fatigue in print or cursive writing. Additionally, a significant decrease in coupling (p

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