RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Increase in Grasp Force Reflects a Desire to Improve Movement Precision JF eneuro JO eNeuro FD Society for Neuroscience SP ENEURO.0095-19.2019 DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0095-19.2019 VO 6 IS 4 A1 A. Takagi A1 H. Kambara A1 Y. Koike YR 2019 UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/6/4/ENEURO.0095-19.2019.abstract AB Grasping is an action engraved in the human genome, enabling newborn infants to hang from a monkey-bar immediately after birth. The grasp force provides rich information about the brain’s control of arm movements. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the grasp force increases to improve the hand’s movement precision during reaching. In two reaching experiments, subjects increased grasp force to suppress movement imprecision that arose from both self-generated motor noise and from an unpredictable environment. Furthermore, the grasp force did not increase constantly, but increased specifically along the movement where the hand’s deviation was greatest. The increased grasp was premeditated and was not a reaction to environmental forces, suggesting that the central nervous system has a predictive, state-dependent model of movement precision during reaching. The grasp force provides a high temporal resolution and calibration-less estimate of movement precision adaptation.