Skill is a kind of behavior obtained by means of exercise, and is composed of diversified abilities. The difference in skill between an expert and a novice stems from a variability in each component ability. The variability is considered to be related to changes in apportionment of attention, and further work is in progress to elucidate the cause of variability from the information processing viewpoint such as attentional fucus or prediction of attention. This review also deals with problems and applicability of researches on motor skill of experts.

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Material elements of motor skill include a form, accuracy, speed, adaptability and consistency. Improvements in motor technique induced by learning result in acquisition of motor skill. This reviews describes the difference between motor skill and motor technique, and evaluation method of motor skill. Motor skill can be evaluated in a many-sided way by using various indices such as EMG, error, reaction time, energy, motor locus, and visual motor analysis.

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In this review, the function of foot, which can be said “ a ground plate of body”, was evaluated kinesiologically by dividing the foot into three parts; anterior, middle and posterior parts. The function of foot calls for mobility and immobility. The posterior part of foot operates the anterior part by way of a medtarsal joint, and plays a pivotal role in mobility and immobility of foot. The function of the posterior part of foot is influenced by tibial forms such as tibial torsion and frontal tectroium angle, and the subtalar joint links the motions of the posterior part of foot to a rotation of leg. This review indicates an integral role of foot characteristics in motions from lower extremities to whole body, and further mentions the importance of foot evaluation in understanding motor control of body.

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The role of muscle in movement is considered from two perspectives. When both large long muscles and small short muscles traverse a given joint, the roles of the small short muscles should be examined in light of morphological findings, because they play a relatively small mechanical role in movement at the joint. Another perspective can be found in the effect on the central nervous system of lack of limb muscle activity as seen in the abnormal states of sensory deprivation following amputation and of hemiplegia following stroke.

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Collection and processing of various information play an integral part in learning of task movements by means of exercise. The information necessary for learning of task movements consists of an intrinsic feedback like an proprioceptive sensibility which results from task movements, and an extrinsic feedback such as knowledge of results provided by a trainer. Information processing advances, first memorizing an intrinsic feedback and then comparing it with an extrinsic feedback. This study deals with the required time for the comparison between intrinsic and extrinsic feedbacks, and a kind of image that an intrinsic feedback is memorized. The last part of the study refers to the method for applying the theory and measures of motor learning to physical therapy.

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It is of importance to understand not only motor control during steady-state gait, but also that at the initiation of gait. Healthy people initiate gait by activating anterior tibial muscle followed by inactivation of triceps muscle of the calf. Functions of these muscles induce a posterior shift of the center of foot pressure, and a body is rotated forward by gravity, thereby initiating the anterior movement of the center of gravity. Although this basic process is uniform regardless of age, the posterior locomotion of the center of foot pressure tends to be small in children or the elderly. The period from gait initiation to the end of the first step depends on biomechanical conditions, not on gait velocity. Gait initiation in Parkinson’s disease is characterized by an elongation of the postural phase.

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We, human beings, receive various information from our environment at the same time, process it unconsciously, and prepare upcoming activities. But we are sensible of only a handful of sensations among enormous information processed. Being processed unconsciously in the early stage, the sensation itself could not be corrected by verbal or sensory notice. In order to expand adaptive behavior among patients, some approaches aiming to rectify their “unconscious awareness” are necessary. The previous studies showed the importance of the intervention of nonverbal communication, where physical therapists move together with patients and induce their movement. The present study further showed the importance of sympathy with each other, not only guiding the movements.

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Recent years have witnessed increasing interest in the neurophysiological study of the joint function and disorder. A physical therapist, an expert of joint control, has a broad knowledge and technique from the fields of kinesiology and biomechanics, but is lacking in those from the neurophysiological viewpoint. Joint constituents include lots of nerve receptors, and few data exist on the neurophysiological effect of various physical therapies on the receptors. For example, what kind of neurophysiological changes occur in joint capsule or ligament after manual interventions to the joint? How the joint injury or degeneration of joint constituents affect the function of nerve receptor and nerve-muscle coordination? This review introduces joint neurophysiology, referring to the previous studies.

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