Human hand function : the limitations of brain and brawn

Since the dawn of modern neurology in the late eighteenth century, understanding how the human hand is controlled has remained a foremost challenge because of the clinical reality that hand function is a major victim of stroke and recovers very poorly. For those who survive stroke, improvement of current rehabilitation strategies is the hope for improved functional outcomes (Wolf et al. 2006). Regrettably, our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying functional weakness, flexor spasticity and muscle contracture is woefully deficient. With this background, The Journal of Physiology hosted the symposium Human hand function: the limitations of brain and brawn at the 2011 Physiological Societymeeting held in Oxford. The five speakers were expected to tackle some of the roadblocks within the brain right down to the muscle. Each contributor illuminated one facet of the problem and suggested some current views that need to change.