Blog 5

          Dr. Brewer taught us that there are six types of grasps that the human hand can make—Hook, Lateral, Palmer, Cylindrical, Spherical, and Pincer.  The Hook grasp is used when someone picks up a bag.  The Lateral grasp, also known as the key pinch, is used when someone picks up a piece of paper.  The Palmer grasp is how someone grips a pen or pencil.  The Cylindrical grasp is how someone grasps something like a can.  The Spherical grasp is used to pick up round objects like a ball.  Finally, the Pincer grasp is used to pick up small objects.  There are two types of Pincer grasps, pad-to-pad and tip-to-tip.  Dr. Brewer also spoke about all the different ways a human hand can move, this is known as the “Degrees of Freedom.” The human hand has 21-17 degrees of freedom.