Kinematic characteristics of multi-directional reaching movement in degenerative cervical myelopathy

Kinematic characteristics of multi-directional reaching movement in degenerative cervical myelopathy | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Kinematic characteristics of multi-directional reaching movement in degenerative cervical myelopathy Bumsuk Lee, Naoto Noguchi, Ken Kondo, Ryoto Akiyama, Yuki Obokata, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8556269/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Study Design: Prospective cross-sectional study Objectives: To objectively evaluate kinematic characteristics of multi-directional reaching movement in individuals with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). Setting: East Maebashi Orthopedic Hospital, Japan. Methods: Twenty-five individuals with DCM participated in this study. Participants performed single- and multi-directional reaching tasks before and after cervical decompression surgery. Kinematic parameters, including Acceleration (ACC), Movement time, and Movement distance, were recorded in three-dimensional (3D) space during the two reaching tasks. Correlations between the improvement rates of kinematic parameters and other clinical tests were evaluated. Furthermore, a multiple stepwise regression analysis was performed to investigate the contribution of multi-directional reaching to the postoperative improvement of upper limb performance. Results: The 3D trajectories during multi-directional reaching became smoother with reduced variability after surgery, and significant postoperative improvements were observed in kinematic parameters. Multiple regression analysis revealed that improvement of upper limb performance was predicted by the improvement of ACC during multi-directional reaching (β = 0.50, p < 0.05) and the 10-second grip-and-release test (β = 0.49, p < 0.05), explaining 45% of variance. Conclusions: Evaluation of multi-directional reaching movement, which more accurately reflects multi-joint coordination of the proximal arm, could serve as a valuable indicator for assessing postoperative recovery in reaching function in DCM. Moreover, these findings suggest that reaching function affects overall upper limb performance and the importance of separately assessing proximal and distal arm functions in individuals with DCM. Health sciences/Diseases/Neurological disorders Health sciences/Health care/Health services/Rehabilitation Health sciences/Diseases/Neurological disorders Health sciences/Health care/Health services/Rehabilitation Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Full Text Additional Declarations There is a duality of interest Tables 1 to 3 are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files Table1.docx Table1 Table2.docx Table2 Table3.docx Table3 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: revise 01 May, 2026 Review # 2 received at journal 28 Apr, 2026 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 17 Apr, 2026 Review # 1 received at journal 06 Apr, 2026 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 10 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 13 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 12 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 08 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8556269","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":573954040,"identity":"ac1cdd40-6d69-493d-9773-40e161166d08","order_by":0,"name":"Bumsuk 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electronic pegboard system. Participants performed reaching movements using a wooden hand-held pen to touch targets on the screen as accurately and quickly as possible. A Leap Motion Controller (LMC) was attached to the bottom of the screen and recorded the three-dimensional position of the pen tip with a frequency of 128 Hz.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8556269/v1/324f34dc28260e1b4650e37c.png"},{"id":100796625,"identity":"80064c81-7c0d-44f9-a38b-29241e7600dd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-21 13:44:36","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":85296,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSingle- and multi-directional reaching task. (A) Single-directional reaching task: Participants reached 2 targets in a single horizontal direction. The first target appeared on the left side of the screen when participants tapped the start icon, and the following target simultaneously appeared on the right side of the screen after the first target was touched. (B) Multi-directional reaching task: Participants reached 16 targets in multiple directions. The sequence of target appearance is semi-random. For example, when a participant touches “1”, a symmetrically located target (“5”) appears on the screen simultaneously. After touching “5”, another target appears randomly. If a “3” appears, the next target is always “7”, which is symmetrically located on the screen.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8556269/v1/1771b6857f1d525a12e9ff07.png"},{"id":100747201,"identity":"782e6b08-038a-4138-98ba-828d8b8c43d8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-21 03:52:25","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":242907,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eReaching trajectories of a representative participant before and after surgery.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8556269/v1/696d448fa24f8f2f2e86bda5.png"},{"id":101398844,"identity":"9f40f8bb-ec47-4a86-b49c-1aec9f6afc80","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-29 09:49:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":622118,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Manuscripts.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8556269/v1_covered_85bdd3d6-85d0-4832-9ff7-1a367f6fd0d4.pdf"},{"id":100747196,"identity":"43187a26-e61a-473a-8098-dadf6a3f4d07","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-21 03:52:25","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":23038,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Table1","description":"","filename":"Table1.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8556269/v1/d27ad2d2acf024954afd8e4d.docx"},{"id":100747199,"identity":"f16adf74-9299-4804-b36f-58d5f21f6609","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-21 03:52:25","extension":"docx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":21651,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Table2","description":"","filename":"Table2.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8556269/v1/a72682016efc8d94536c13a5.docx"},{"id":100857756,"identity":"4aedeea4-065d-430c-b564-2cb0b3eb4134","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-22 07:21:41","extension":"docx","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":20560,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Table3","description":"","filename":"Table3.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8556269/v1/a1708852a30b464c4dda4c45.docx"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003eThere is a duality of interest\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTables 1 to 3 are available in the Supplementary Files section.\u003c/p\u003e","formattedTitle":"Kinematic characteristics of multi-directional reaching movement in degenerative cervical myelopathy","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"spinal-cord","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"sc","sideBox":"Learn more about [Spinal Cord](http://www.nature.com/sc/)","snPcode":"41393","submissionUrl":"https://mts-sc.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex","title":"Spinal Cord","twitterHandle":"@journalsci","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8556269/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8556269/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Study Design: Prospective cross-sectional study\r\n\r\nObjectives: To objectively evaluate kinematic characteristics of multi-directional reaching movement in individuals with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM).\r\n\r\nSetting: East Maebashi Orthopedic Hospital, Japan.\r\n\r\nMethods: Twenty-five individuals with DCM participated in this study. Participants performed single- and multi-directional reaching tasks before and after cervical decompression surgery. Kinematic parameters, including Acceleration (ACC), Movement time, and Movement distance, were recorded in three-dimensional (3D) space during the two reaching tasks. Correlations between the improvement rates of kinematic parameters and other clinical tests were evaluated. Furthermore, a multiple stepwise regression analysis was performed to investigate the contribution of multi-directional reaching to the postoperative improvement of upper limb performance.\r\n\r\nResults: The 3D trajectories during multi-directional reaching became smoother with reduced variability after surgery, and significant postoperative improvements were observed in kinematic parameters. Multiple regression analysis revealed that improvement of upper limb performance was predicted by the improvement of ACC during multi-directional reaching (β = 0.50, p \u003c 0.05) and the 10-second grip-and-release test (β = 0.49, p \u003c 0.05), explaining 45% of variance.\r\n\r\nConclusions: Evaluation of multi-directional reaching movement, which more accurately reflects multi-joint coordination of the proximal arm, could serve as a valuable indicator for assessing postoperative recovery in reaching function in DCM. Moreover, these findings suggest that reaching function affects overall upper limb performance and the importance of separately assessing proximal and distal arm functions in individuals with DCM.","manuscriptTitle":"Kinematic characteristics of multi-directional reaching movement in degenerative cervical myelopathy","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-21 03:52:20","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8556269/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"revise","date":"2026-05-01T09:55:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"This content is not available.","date":"2026-04-28T21:06:30+00:00","index":2,"fulltext":"This content is not available."},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"This content is not available.","date":"2026-04-17T04:40:12+00:00","index":2,"fulltext":"This content is not available."},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"This content is not available.","date":"2026-04-07T03:48:47+00:00","index":1,"fulltext":"This content is not available."},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"This content is not available.","date":"2026-03-11T02:04:45+00:00","index":1,"fulltext":"This content is not available."},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-13T13:28:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-01-12T22:51:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-01-12T22:34:58+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Spinal Cord","date":"2026-01-09T03:15:38+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"spinal-cord","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"sc","sideBox":"Learn more about [Spinal Cord](http://www.nature.com/sc/)","snPcode":"41393","submissionUrl":"https://mts-sc.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex","title":"Spinal Cord","twitterHandle":"@journalsci","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"e64ef135-45c7-4852-924d-dc6c9a4ac954","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 21st, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"revise","date":"2026-05-01T09:55:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"in-revision","subjectAreas":[{"id":61071566,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases/Neurological disorders"},{"id":61071567,"name":"Health sciences/Health care/Health services/Rehabilitation"},{"id":61071570,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases/Neurological disorders"},{"id":61071571,"name":"Health sciences/Health care/Health services/Rehabilitation"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-01T10:00:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-21 03:52:20","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8556269","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8556269","identity":"rs-8556269","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}