Position sense asymmetry

Abstract

Asymmetries in upper limb position sense have been explained in the context of a left limb advantage derived from differences in hemispheric specialization in the processing of kinesthetic information. However, it is not clearly understood how the comparison of perceptual information associated with passive limb displacement and the corresponding matching movement resulting from the execution of a motor command contributes to these differences. In the present study, upper limb position sense was investigated in 12 right-hand-dominant young adults performing wrist position matching tasks which varied in terms of interhemispheric transfer, memory retrieval and whether the reference position was provided by the same or opposite limb. Right and left hand absolute matching errors were similar when the reference and matching positions were produced by the same hand but were 36% greater when matching the reference position with the opposite hand. When examining the constant errors generated from matching movements made with the same hand that provided the reference, the right and left hand matching errors (≈3°) were similar. However, when matching with the opposite limb, a large overshoot (P <0.05) characterized the error when the right hand matched the left hand reference while a large undershoot (P <0.05) characterized the error when the left hand matched the right hand reference. The overshoot and undershoot were of similar magnitude (≈4°). Although asymmetries in the central processing of proprioceptive information such as inter-hemispheric transfer may exist, the present study suggests that asymmetries in position sense predominantly result from a difference in the “gain of the respective proprioceptive sensory-motor loops”. This new hypothesis is strongly supported by a dual-linear model representing the right and left hand sensory-motor systems as well as morphological and physiological data.

Contribution of sensory and motor components to motor control asymmetries: An analytical model approach

“…Position sense asymmetry has been observed in natural [5] and altered [6] conditions. A model-based demonstration including the properties of feedback systems showed that the intrinsic asymmetry in position sense revealed by contralateral matching paradigms resulted from a difference in the gain of each respective sensorimotor system [5].…”

“…A model-based demonstration including the properties of feedback systems showed that the intrinsic asymmetry in position sense revealed by contralateral matching paradigms resulted from a difference in the gain of each respective sensorimotor system [5]. In D. E. Adamo is with the department of Health Care Sciences, Wayne State University unperturbed conditions and for right-handed individuals, the right hand overshoots the left hand reference position and the left hand undershoots the right hand reference position.…”

Control of discrete bimanual movements: How each hand benefits from the other

“…Both hemispheres can do both predictive and impedance control, but, as a recent model suggests [19] they employ these different control schemes differently during movements. In this context, the slight decrease in constant parallel error found also in the left hand during bimanual mode could be related to increased effort for the right hand to hit the target accurately, and resulting changes in signal gain perception in the kinesthetically controlled left hand [11]. Overall, coordination mode (isodirectional vs. anisodirectional) did not seem to have a specific effect in the sense that one or the other mode improved or degraded either trajectory control or endpoint control.…”

“…More recent studies have shown that processing of proprioceptive information seems to be lateralized. For example, dynamic [9], or static position matching tasks [10,11] found the nondominant left limb to be more accurate than the right limb; this was interpreted as left limb/right hemisphere advantage in detecting and processing proprioceptive information. Other experiments, using visuomotor paradigms, also showed that end position accuracy in planar arm movements was higher for the left hand/right hemisphere system http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2014.…”

Positioning Errors in Simple Targeted Movements of the Forearm Realized in the Absence of Visual Control: Effects of Vibrational Stimulation of Antagonist Muscles

“…Nonetheless, even in these cases the comparison and interpretation of the data obtained are complicated by the above-mentioned circumstance (the variability of experimental paradigms). For instance, positioning errors in reproduction of the passive movements of a limb link [10] or even errors of reproduction of targeted positioning in the course of movements of the contralateral limb [11,12] were studied in a few works.…”