Browsing by Subject "Proprioception"
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Item Differential Effects Of Explicit Verbal And Visual Feedback On Proprioceptive Learning: Examining Position Sense Acuity Of The Forearm During Active And Passive Displacement(2020-04) Huang, QiyinBoth intrinsic feedback derived from proprioceptive and tactile mechanoreceptors, and extrinsic visual or auditory feedback play an important role in sensorimotor learning. However, the interaction between intrinsic and extrinsic forms of feedback and the effect of extrinsic feedback on proprioceptive function during sensorimotor learning are only incompletely understood. The purpose of this study was to compare the differential effects of intrinsic and extrinsic verbal and visual feedback on proprioceptive learning. Specifically, this study investigated how the acuity of the forearm position sense changes during sensorimotor learning under different conditions of feedback. Methods: Thirty healthy young adult participants underwent a sensorimotor training program delivered in two training sessions in a single day. Using a forearm manipulandum, participants performed forearm flexion movements and learnt to actively match a previously experienced forearm position. After the matching movement, participants received either proprioceptive only or a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic feedback (proprioceptive + visual or proprioceptive + verbal feedback) about the final forearm position error. Vision was blocked for the proprioceptive only and proprioceptive + verbal feedback conditions. All participants received 150 training trials. Retention was tested 24 hours after training. Proprioceptive acuity was evaluated: Just-noticeable difference (JND) position sense thresholds served as a measure of passive elbow proprioceptive acuity. Absolute joint position matching error (JPME) represented a measure of active proprioceptive acuity. Results: First, none of feedback conditions led to a significant decrease in JND after training (p > 0.05). Second, all three feedback conditions induced a statistically significant reduction in JPME after training (p < 0.05) with both the proprioceptive only (Cohen’s d = 1.62) and proprioceptive + verbal (Cohen’s d = 1.57) feedback conditions showing the very large effect sizes. However, change in JPME with training was not significantly different between the three feedback conditions (p > 0.05). Third, the observed reduction in JPME at post-test had vanished 24 hours after training. Discussion: I found no evidence that providing additional extrinsic feedback in a proprioceptive learning task can boost joint position sense accuracy. Proprioceptive training relying solely on proprioceptive signals is sufficient to induce measurable improvements of active position sense. However, such learning was not retained after 24 hours.Item Enhancing joint position sense through concurrent tactile stimulation: effects of handedness(2013-08) Heggernes, Karen ElizabethJoint position sense (JPS) is the awareness of limb position in the absence of vision, and is based on proprioceptive information from muscle, skin and joint receptors. There is initial evidence that JPS is enhanced by concurrent tactile stimulation such as applying an elastic brace to the joint (Herrington, Simmonds, & Hatcher, 2005). In addition, JPS acuity may be biased toward the non-preferred hand. In right handers and left handers the ability to match elbow angles has shown to be asymmetrical between the preferred and non-preferred arm, favoring the non-preferred arm(Goble & Brown, 2008). This study examined the effects of tactile stimulation on JPS with the use of an elastic brace on the elbow joint as a function of handedness.The rationale behind the study was to explore, if JPS at a proprioceptively less sensitive joint could be improved by added tactile stimulation. Specifically, by placing a brace on the preferred arm, I sought to decrease JPS error to the level of the non-preferred arm. JPS was measured through a bi-manual manipulandum, designed to measure angular displacement of the elbow joint in the horizontal plane. Thirty healthy adults, 20 right-handed and 10 left-handed, were recruited to participate in a contralateral concurrent elbow matching task, with and without tactile stimulation, at an amplitude of 40° in elbow extension. The results showed no statistically significant main effects for brace, handedness, orhand used.In addition, the respective 2- and 3-way interactions failed to reach significance.Thus, this experiment failed to confirm earlier reports showing beneficial effects of concurrent tactile stimulation on JPS. These findings indicate in healthy young adults training had little effect on the precision of the JPS as no changes occurred across trials within subjects.Further, earlier reports of the beneficial effects of knee joint bracing on JPS do not translate to the elbow joint. Overall this study is a significant contribution to the literature for gaining an understanding of how the elbow joint responds to bracing in healthy young adults, and suggests that the specialization of our non-preferred limb may only be in tasks where memory is included in the design.Item Transfer of Proprioceptive and Motor Learning In Upper Limb Joints(2020-06) Zhu, HuiyingProprioceptive training has been shown to improve motor performance as well as joint proprioceptive function. What is unclear is to what extent such sensory training transfers to other neighboring or homologous joints or limbs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which proprioceptive training at one joint transfers to other joints. Specifically, I examined how the training of the right wrist joint improves proprioceptive acuity and motor performance in the ipsilateral elbow and the contralateral wrist joint. Methods: Thirty-two, healthy right-handed adults (mean age: 24.1yrs; 13 males) underwent a 3-day proprioceptive training regimen that trained their right, dominant wrists. They were randomly assigned to either an ipsilateral or contralateral transfer group. On each day, position sense acuity and motor performance of the trained right wrist and the untrained right elbow or left wrist was assessed before and after training. On Day 2, participants used a virtual reality environment combined with a wrist robotic exoskeleton to balance a virtual ball on a virtual table performing continuous, small amplitude wrist flexion/extension movements. Assessment of the right or left wrist was conducted using the same wrist robot, while the elbow function was assessed using a custom-built elbow manipulandum. The retention test was assessed 24 hours after proprioceptive training. A just-noticeable difference (JND) position sense threshold was obtained as a measure of position sense acuity. Motor accuracy error (MAE) between reference and matched joint positions during a goal-directed pointing movement (different from training) served as a measure of untrained motor performance. Results: First, proprioception training induced a significant reduction in the JND threshold (28.5%) and MAE (31.4%) at the trained, right wrist in both groups (p < 0.05). Second, right-wrist proprioceptive training led to significant gains in JND threshold (34.7%) and MAE (20.1%) at the ipsilateral untrained elbow. Third, right-wrist proprioceptive training led to significant gains in the JND threshold (31.8%), but no changes in MAE at the contralateral untrained wrist. Fourth, learning effects on untrained motor performance at the ipsilateral untrained elbow, and position sense acuity at the contralateral untrained wrist were not retained after 24 hours. Discussion: Proprioceptive training improved participants’ position sense acuity and untrained motor performance in the trained joint. This study provides evidence that such improvement in sensory or motor performance can transfer to neighboring or homologous joints. This provides a basis for the transfer of proprioceptive training programs for specific clinical populations with unilateral injury and immobilization.Item Wrist Proprioceptive Assessment in Expert Violin Players(2018-02) Feczer, RebeccaProprioceptive afferents from mechanoreceptors in the joints, muscles, tendons and skin give rise to the perception of the movement and the position of the body and its limbs. They provide movement-relevant feedback during the learning of a new skill and are essential for the control of movement. Research has indicated that motor learning not only induces changes in motor function, but also in proprioceptive accuracy. These sensory improvements are associated with short-term plastic changes seen in somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP). To understand, if achieving motor skill expertise is associated with improvements in proprioceptive accuracy, this study assessed wrist proprioceptive acuity in expert violinists and a control group of healthy non-experts. Violin experts use the wrist of their bowing arm to create precise and controlled movements of the violin bow. Method: Wrist position sense acuity measures in the flexion/extension plane of ten violin players (M/F = 3/7; 19-58 years old) and eleven non-experts (M/F = 7/4; 18-30 years old) were evaluated using a robotic wrist exoskeleton. Participants judged wrist joint positions using a forced-choice paradigm, which yielded a Just-Noticeable-Difference (JND) threshold as a measure of proprioceptive acuity. SEP was measured as a neural correlate of proprioceptive acuity and to evaluate the early stages of somatosensory processing. Results: On average, violin experts reported a lower JND threshold (1.77°) compared to non-experts (1.87°). These results indicated no significant difference in position sense acuity between groups (p = 0.45). However, within the expert violin group, more experienced individuals did show a significant difference (p=0.004) than less experienced individuals. There was also no significant difference in the neurophysiological measures of latency (N30: p=0.69; P20: p= 0 .15), amplitude (N30: p=0.27; P20: p= 0 20) in either component, or peak-to-peak amplitude (p=0.08). Discussion: These data indicate that violin players do not show enhanced proprioceptive acuity when compared to controls despite extensive motor practice. However, proprioceptive acuity within the more highly trained and older expert violin group was significantly higher when compared to experts with less training. This study suggest that increases in wrist proprioceptive acuity depend on a certain level of experience beyond simply mastering of a skill.