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Roberto Colombo [1; 2] and Alessandra Mazzone [2] and Carmen Delconte [3] and Fabrizio Pisano [3]

Academic Editor: Saeid Sanei

1, Service of Bioengineering, IRCCS ICS Maugeri Spa SB, Pavia, Italy, fsm.it

2, Service of Bioengineering, IRCCS ICS Maugeri Spa SB, Veruno, Italy, fsm.it

3, Neurologic Rehabilitation Division, IRCCS ICS Maugeri Spa SB, Veruno, Italy, fsm.it

Received Oct 2, 2017; Accepted Dec 7, 2017

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

Most patients after incomplete spinal cord injuries and stroke experience upper and lower extremity impairments that can result in persistent limitations in their activity and participation domains as defined by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The most common impairments are motor deficits such as paraplegia and hemiparesis, which are experienced by a large proportion of patients [1, 2]. Impairment of body sensation following the acute event is common, with a significant proportion of patients experiencing deficits of their proprioceptive abilities [3–6].

Proprioception can be defined as the ability of an individual to perceive body segment position, movement in space, and force generated by the body [7–9]. It is based on sensory signals that muscles, joints, and skin receptors provide to the central nervous system (CNS) consequent upon stretch and compression of body tissue. Because of the important role played by proprioception in maintaining posture and in movement execution and control, patients who exhibit proprioceptive deficits cannot maintain their limbs in a steady posture or execute controlled movements without the support of vision [10]. People suffering loss of proprioceptive feedback move by relying on vision, but long processing delays inherent to the visual system (100–200 ms) yield movements that are typically slow, poorly coordinated, and require a good deal of attention [11]. As a consequence, visually guided corrections may come too late and result in jerky, unstable movements [12]. Sensory function, as well as motor function, is important for dexterity tasks [13]. Therefore, stroke survivors often give up using their impaired limb because of their sensorimotor deficits even though this reduces their quality of life [14].

Proprioceptive deficits can also interfere with motor learning processes, as well...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
       
       

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