Feczer, Rebecca2018-04-102018-04-102018-02https://hdl.handle.net/11299/195379University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. February 2018. Major: Kinesiology. Advisor: Jurgen Konczak. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 23 pages.Proprioceptive 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.enExpertProprioceptionViolinistWristThesis or Dissertation