Motor Intelligence The study of simple motor tasks as indicators for inter-individual differences Implications for clinical practice and sport excellence

This thesis aims to bridge between the theoretical concept of motor intelligence and its practice. Particularly, I seek to affront the problematic regarding to its quantification. As any transition between theory and practice, the theoretical framework must first be established. When it comes to Motor Intelligence specifically, though the theoretical groundwork had existed for a long time, the practicality of which had remained behind. This thesis begins by first examining the reasons for the discrepancy between theory and practice for motor intelligence, continuing by a proposal for a practical approach based on the successful implementation of the concepts of intelligence (Chapter 1). The approach presented here is made on two fronts; the first front consists of the identification of suitable tasks for quantification of various aspects of motor control (Chapters 2-4). Specifically, Chapter 2 examines the potential of drawing and tracing tasks as tools for assessment of fine motor control, tested on a large number of subjects with specific attention to individual differences and the implications of these tasks to motor control. The results evidence that there is no correlation in terms of precision between the two tasks and that this lack of correlation is task dependent and not shape dependent. This allows for a classification of subjects, based on their level of tasks precision, as either drawers or tracers. Results obtained from the study suggest that for an accurate evaluation of fine motor control, both tasks should be used integrating their results. Chapter 3, extends the findings in Chapter 2 to elementary children, investigating the development of components of fine motor control using a tracing and a drawing task. The study demonstrates that, while tracing capacity improves greatly with age, drawing capacity improves only slightly. This trend may be due to possible involvement of attention as well as maturation patterns of the nervous system. The tasks, by being simple, economic and rapid, may represent a good instrument for motor control quantification during development, especially for population screening of eventual delays in maturation of motor control. Chapter 4, assesses the sensitivity of a tracing task following specific interventions, examining how the manipulation of objects, specifically fidget spinner, may influence fine motor control using a spiral tracing task. Results suggest that while fidget spinners do improve precision in tracing, it does not appear to be due to any inherent characteristic of the spinners themselves, as Sham group also demonstrated improvements. The second front consists of the creation of instruments and methodological approaches that could be used for quantification (Chapters 5-7). Chapter 5 introduces a novel quantification method for 3D analysis of movement using a single camera, with a specific attention to the widespread implementation of movement analysis. Chapter 6, introduces a novel approach for the quantification of motor adaptation, using a simple continuous task which seeks to facilitate testing, and consequently used also in clinical settings. The adequacy of the task was evaluated by examining for aftereffects and generalizations (considered as indicators for motor adaptation). Results affirm the suitability of the task for examining adaptation, specifically, long-lasting after effects and generalization both for size and shift were found. Chapter 7 introduces a novel quantification approach during motor learning which is aimed to evidence individual differences in strategy selection during learning. This execution-centric approach is able to predict behavior during learning, regardless of outcome. Finally, Chapter 8 closes this thesis by discussing the approach presented here in a general context along with some concluding remarks and possible future directions.