Neck Muscle Vibration Alters Cerebellar Processing Associated with Motor Skill Acquisition and Proprioception

Abstract

Long term changes in neck sensory feedback in those with neck pain impacts motor learning, proprioception, and cortical processing. However, it is unclear whether transient alterations in neck sensory input from vibration impact sensorimotor integration (SMI) and somatosensory processing following acquisition of a proprioceptive-based task. The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of neck muscle vibration on SMI and motor learning. 25 right-handed participants had electrical stimulation over the right median nerve to elicit short and middle latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) pre- and post-acquisition of a force matching tracking task. Following the pre-acquisition phase, controls (CONT) (n = 13, 6F) received 10 minutes of rest and the vibration group (VIB) (n = 12, 6F) received 10 minutes of 60Hz vibration on the right sternocleidomastoid and left cervical extensors. Task performance was measured 24 hours later to assess retention. Significant time by group interactions occurred for the N18 SEP peak (F (1, 23) = 6.475, p = 0.018, np2 = 0.220): where amplitudes increased by 58.74% in CONT and decreased by 21.77% in VIB and the N24 SEP Peak (F (1, 23) = 5.787, p = 0.025, np2 = 0.201): decreased by 14.05% in CONT and increased by 16.31% in VIB. Both groups demonstrated improvements in motor performance post-acquisition (F (1, 23) = 52.812, p < 0.001, np2 = 0.697) and at retention (F (1, 23) = 35.546, p < 0.001, np2 = 0.607). Group dependent changes in SEP peaks associated with cerebellar processing (N18 and N24) occurred post-acquisition suggesting differences in cerebellar-somatosensory pathways. This suggests that vibration altered proprioceptive inputs used to construct body schema.