You will need:
- A computer
- Mouse
Improve your motor skills only to realize that a slight change in angle or
vision will mess up your motor skills all over again.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Ask an adult to help you with the mouse settings on your computer.
- Initially, move the mouse around at a normal speed and try opening/closing different icons. You should be able to
use the mouse with ease at the normal settings. - Now, ask the adult to change the settings of the mouse by increasing the speed.
- Try using the mouse again to open and close different files. Is it as easy as before?
RESULT
No matter how used to you are using your mouse, once the speed has been changed you will probably over shooting or just missing the icons you want to click on. As hard as you may try, your hand will not respond to where you want it to take the mouse. This happens as a result of the brain sending signals to our cerebellum, the part of the brain which is at the top of the spinal cord. Whenever any of our motor skills has to be used, the cerebellum sends signals to different muscles in our body to carry out the task. These signals are then remembered by the brain for future use. When you suddenly change the settings on your mouse, your brain is still sending signals for the original settings to your hand, making you miss the icons you are trying to click. With repetition the brain then remembers new signals to send to your hand.
