The Effects of Left Hand Fatigue on Right Hand Performance

Twenty-five subjects performed tracking tasks with the right arm before and after cranking a bicycle ergometer with the left arm. Three experimental conditions consisted of cranking the ergo-meter for 60, 90, and 120 seconds. The results indicate there was a significant decrement in tracking performance the first ten seconds after each of the cranking periods. By thirty seconds after cranking, tracking performance returned to pre-cranking level for each of the conditions. The decrement was not attributable to heart rate or breathing rate increases which remained for periods of up to five minutes. The crossover fatigue effect warrants further study.