What makes our hands tremble. Why can’t we hold objects without our hands trembling? Do other primates have this problem?
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Ok, here is the serious answer:
Your muscles are not a vice or clamp.
They are a bunch of tiny ropes (muscles fiber groups inside your muscles) that take turns pulling so your fingers stay more or less where they should be.
You see it more in your hand (specifically the tips of your fingers) when you’re holding something small because that’s one of the longest distance tendons travel without any muscles backing them up (You’re finger muscles are in your forearm … mostly)
So as the ropes switch who is slack and who is taut the pressure and tension varies just a bit.
It’s just more visible because this is the part of your body with the finest control you can see.
As to your second question: Yes. Chimpanzees and gorillas will have the same kind of small tremor when doing fine manipulations but it’s a lot less obvious because they do it so rarely.
It also gets worse as you age because neural pathways degrade and so the orders your muscles get become less consistent. Some diseases will also cause this at a younger age so if for example you are under 40 and you can’t hold your arm out palm down for 1 minute without it visibly shaking you might want to talk to a doctor.
you might have benign essential tremors. since I was very young I was able to decorate very delicate Ukrainian Easter eggs, and tie my own fishing flies with ease, paint, draw. always had steady hands until my late 40’s.
it is NOT normal to have trembling hands for the majority, but I have known people that had essential ideopathic tremors from a young age, and they coped fine.
all those historical paintings, sculptures, hand done fine details….you can bet they had steady hands for fine detail etc.
ask your doctor.
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