BACKGROUND: Studies in healthy people show that stimulation of muscle spindles through frequency-specific tendon vibration (TV) induces the illusory perception of movement. Following spinal cord injury (SCI), motor and sensory connections between the brain and parts of the body below-the-lesion level are partially or totally impaired. OBJECTIVE: The present investigation is a descriptive study aimed to investigate whether people living with SCI may experience movement illusions comparable to a control group. METHODS: Healthy and people with SCI were asked to report on three illusion-related features (Vividness, Duration, Illusory Extension) after receiving 70 Hz TV on the biceps brachii tendon of both arms. Two different forces of stimulation were applied: 2.4 N and 4.2 N. RESULTS: Both patients and controls were susceptible to the kinesthetic illusion. However patients presented lower sensitivity to TV than healthy subjects. Participants rated stronger illusions of movement after 4.2 N than 2.4 N stimulation in all the three illusion-related features. Further, patients reported atypical illusory experiences of movement (e.g. as if the arm wanted to extend, or a sensation of pushing against something) that may reflect different reorganization processes following spinal cord injury. CONCLUSION: The study provides a preliminary evidence of the possible use of the proprioceptive stimulation in the upper limbs of people living with SCI. Results are discussed in the light of recent advancements of brain-computer applications based on motor imagery for the control of neuroprosthetic and robotic devices in patients with severe sensorimotor deficits.
Illusion of arm movement evoked by tendon vibration in patients with spinal cord injury / Fusco, Gabriele; Tidoni, Emmanuele; Barone, N; Pilati, C; Aglioti, Salvatore Maria. - In: RESTORATIVE NEUROLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE. - ISSN 0922-6028. - STAMPA. - 34:5(2016), pp. 815-826. [10.3233/RNN-160660]
Illusion of arm movement evoked by tendon vibration in patients with spinal cord injury
FUSCO, GABRIELE
;TIDONI, EMMANUELE
;AGLIOTI, Salvatore Maria
2016
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Studies in healthy people show that stimulation of muscle spindles through frequency-specific tendon vibration (TV) induces the illusory perception of movement. Following spinal cord injury (SCI), motor and sensory connections between the brain and parts of the body below-the-lesion level are partially or totally impaired. OBJECTIVE: The present investigation is a descriptive study aimed to investigate whether people living with SCI may experience movement illusions comparable to a control group. METHODS: Healthy and people with SCI were asked to report on three illusion-related features (Vividness, Duration, Illusory Extension) after receiving 70 Hz TV on the biceps brachii tendon of both arms. Two different forces of stimulation were applied: 2.4 N and 4.2 N. RESULTS: Both patients and controls were susceptible to the kinesthetic illusion. However patients presented lower sensitivity to TV than healthy subjects. Participants rated stronger illusions of movement after 4.2 N than 2.4 N stimulation in all the three illusion-related features. Further, patients reported atypical illusory experiences of movement (e.g. as if the arm wanted to extend, or a sensation of pushing against something) that may reflect different reorganization processes following spinal cord injury. CONCLUSION: The study provides a preliminary evidence of the possible use of the proprioceptive stimulation in the upper limbs of people living with SCI. Results are discussed in the light of recent advancements of brain-computer applications based on motor imagery for the control of neuroprosthetic and robotic devices in patients with severe sensorimotor deficits.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
Fusco_Illusion_2016.pdf
solo gestori archivio
Tipologia:
Documento in Post-print (versione successiva alla peer review e accettata per la pubblicazione)
Licenza:
Tutti i diritti riservati (All rights reserved)
Dimensione
639.97 kB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
639.97 kB | Adobe PDF | Contatta l'autore |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.