The hand and the tool: the functional architecture of human technical skills
Abstract
The appearance of the tool constitutes, for the palaeontologist, a decisive step in the process of ‘hominization’. This step raises an intriguing problem for the neurobiologist: what, on a biological level and, more specifically, in terms of the organization of nervous structures, permitted the crossing of the ‘cerebral Rubicon’ which separates man from other primates? The study of fossil man has clearly established the presence of manufactured tools beside skeletons that had the fundamental characteristics of the human species, i.e. upright posture, prehensile hands, a reduction of jaw size, and a significant enlargement of the skull. These findings highlight three major fields of enquiry for the neurobiologist.
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Tactile sensations can be projected to the tip of hand-held tools during manipulation.
“Further, tactile sensations can be projected to the tip of hand-held tools during manipulation (43–45).”
From Threatening a rubber hand that you feel is yours elicits a cortical anxiety response. (2007) · cites this paper as [45]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Maravita, A., & Iriki, A. (2004) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2003.12.008 · Cited by 1,214 · see citing works
Cortical Networks Related to Human Use of Tools
Lewis, J. W. (2006) · The Neuroscientist · doi:10.1177/1073858406288327 · Cited by 450 · see citing works
“At a cognitive level, a high-order body representation is thought to include what is called a “body schema” (Paillard 1993; Iriki and others 1996).”
BackgroundThreatening a rubber hand that you feel is yours elicits a cortical anxiety response.
Ehrsson, H. H., Wiech, K., Weiskopf, N., Dolan, R. J., & Passingham, R. E. (2007) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0610011104 · Cited by 390 · see citing works
Spence, C., Pavani, F., Maravita, A., & Holmes, N. (2004) · Journal of Physiology-Paris · doi:10.1016/j.jphysparis.2004.03.008 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
“Thanks to the evolutionary liberation of the hands from locomotion, humans can efficiently use tools in order to extend the range of actions that they can perform [102].”
BackgroundInfluentialHihara, S., Notoya, T., Tanaka, M., Ichinose, S., Ojima, H., Obayashi, S., Fujii, N., & Iriki, A. (2006) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.11.020 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
“Light microscopy analyses revealed the emergence of novel projections from the higher visual entres in the vicinity of the temporo-parietal junction and the ventrolateral prefrontal areas to the intraparietal area in monkeys trained in tool-use, ut not in naı̈ve monkeys.”
BackgroundThe representation of space near the body through touch and vision
Macaluso, E., & Maravita, A. (2010) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.10.010 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Sensation at the tips of invisible tools
Yamamoto, S., & Kitazawa, S. (2001) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn721 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Multisensory warning signals for event perception and safe driving
Spence, C. J., & Ho, C. (2008) · Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science · doi:10.1080/14639220701816765 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
“…in far extrapersonal space (i.e. the space far away from the driver, outside of the peripersonal space encompassed by the car’s interior; see Riddoch 1941, p. 221, Horowitz et al. 1964, p. 655, Paillard 1993, p. 40) somehow more behaviourally relevant to the driver (see Gibson and Crooks 1938).”
BackgroundActivation in the Ipsilateral Posterior Parietal Cortex during Tool Use: A PET Study
Inoue, K., Kawashima, R., Sugiura, M., Ogawa, A., Schormann, T., Zilles, K., & Fukuda, H. (2001) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1006/nimg.2001.0942 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Sensorimotor predictions and tool use: Hand-held tools attenuate self-touch
Kilteni, K., & Ehrsson, H. H. (2017) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2017.04.005 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
“A well-known anecdotal observation is that when holding a pen or a stick in the hand to touch another object or surface, the tactile sensations are experienced as arising from the tip of the tool (Descartes, 1637; Merleau-Ponty, 1996; Paillard, 1993).”
Referral of Tactile Sensation to the Tips of L-Shaped Sticks
Yamamoto, S., Moizumi, S., & Kitazawa, S. (2005) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.01015.2004 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Auditory object perception: A neurobiological model and prospective review
Brefczynski‐Lewis, J. A., & Lewis, J. W. (2017) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.04.034 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“Knowledge of tool making and tool use, and thus of tool use sound processing, is arguably more highly developed in humans than any other species (Paillard, 1993).”
BackgroundCerebral Activations Related to Writing and Drawing with Each Hand
Potgieser, A. R. E., van der Hoorn, A., & de Jong, B. M. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126723 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
“In the model of three parallel processing streams, the second network of coherent interconnection between the PMv and antero-inferior parietal cortex logically underlies effective use of the pencil in a body-centered coordinate system [54,59,60].”
BackgroundBrain mechanisms of perceiving tools and imagining tool use acts: A functional MRI study
Wadsworth, H. M., & Kana, R. K. (2011) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.03.010 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
“Our ability to conceptualize and manipulate tools in a complex manner is one of the distinguishing characteristics of humans as compared to other animals (Corballis, 1989; Paillard, 1993; Mithen, 1996; Noble & Davidson, 1997), and can be considered as a sign of intelligence.”
BackgroundTactile perception of the roughness of the end of a tool: What role does tool handle roughness play?
Zampini, M., Mawhinney, S., & Spence, C. J. (2006) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2006.02.068 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Manual dexterity and the making of tools - an introduction from an evolutionary perspective
Wiesendanger, M. (1999) · Experimental Brain Research · doi:10.1007/s002210050810 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Robot tool behavior: a developmental approach to autonomous tool use
Arkin, R. C., & Stoytchev, A. (2007) · UPT. Syiah Kuala University Library (Syiah Kuala University) · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Effect of Stick Use on Rapid Unimanual Tapping in Drummers
Fujii, S., & Oda, S. (2009) · Perceptual and Motor Skills · doi:10.2466/pms.108.3.962-970 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“When a person touches something with a tip of a tool held in the hand, he feels the contact at the tool’s tip, although it is actually sensed by somatosensory receptors in the hand holding the tool (Pillard, 1993; Iriki, Tanaka, & Iwamura, 1996; Yamamoto & Kitazawa, 2001; Maravita & Iriki, 2004).”
MethodAn action perspective on tool use and its development
Bongers, R. M. (2001) · Radboud Repository (Radboud University) · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The Neurobiological Roots of Rational Thinking
Paillard, J. (2000) · Studies in cognitive systems · doi:10.1007/978-94-010-0870-9_23 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationEffects of Stick Use on Bimanual Coordination Performance during Rapid Alternate Tapping in Drummers
Fujii, S., & Oda, S. (2009) · Motor Control · doi:10.1123/mcj.13.3.331 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Sensori-Motor Appropriation of an Artefact: A Neuroscientific Approach
Rybarczyk, Y. P., Hoppenot, P., Colle, E., & Daniel, R. (2012) · InTech eBooks · doi:10.5772/28164 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“The authors explained their results by postulating that, during the reaching movement, the tool was assimilated to the animal’s hand, becoming part of the hand representation (Aglioti et al., 1996; Paillard, 1993).”
BackgroundReflections on Jacques Paillard (1920–2006) — A pioneer in the field of motor cognition
Clarac, F., Massion, J., & Stuart, D. G. (2009) · Brain Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2009.07.003 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Effect of Visuo-manual Configuration on a Telerobot Integration into the Body Schema
Rybarczyk, Y. P., & Mestre, D. (2013) · Le travail humain · doi:10.3917/th.763.0181 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Sensory Attenuation With a Virtual Robotic Arm Controlled Using Facial Movements
Fukuoka, M., Nakamura, F., Verhulst, A., İnami, M., Kitazaki, M., & Sugimoto, M. (2023) · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · doi:10.1109/tvcg.2023.3246092 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Several studies on behavioral models have reported that people form internal models in their minds that mimic and simulate external mechanisms by learning to predict the future appropriately and quickly [26], [27], [28].”
BackgroundReferral of tactile stimuli to action points in virtual reality with reaction force
Moizumi, S., Yamamoto, S., & Kitazawa, S. (2007) · Neuroscience Research · doi:10.1016/j.neures.2007.05.013 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…in the real world, we feel the touch at the tip of the tool, rather than at the hand holding the tool (Head and Holmes, 1911; Gibson, 1966; Vaught et al., 1968; Polanyi, 1983; Paillard, 1993) as if the hand were elongated to the tip of the tool (Iriki et al., 1996, 2001; Maravita and Iriki, 2004).”
MethodCortical Control of Hand-Object Interaction
Pehoski, C. (2001) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-032303186-8.50004-6 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Pols, A. J. K. (2011) · TU/e Research Portal · doi:10.6100/ir715244 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Cognitive Neuroscience NeuroReport
Abell, F., Krams, M., Ashburner, J., et al. (1999)
- Authors
- Paillard, J.
- Corresponding author
- Paillard, Jacques
- Venue
- The Use of Tools by Human and Non-human Primates
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Published
- 1993-03-25
- Pages
- 36-46
- OpenAlex
- W2477388903
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2023: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Oxford University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Keywords
- tool use, hominization, nervous system organization, human evolution, upright posture, brain evolution, primate cognition
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