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. 1984 Feb;81(3):979–982. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.3.979

Motor deficits in patients with large-fiber sensory neuropathy.

J N Sanes, K H Mauritz, E V Evarts, M C Dalakas, A Chu
PMCID: PMC344963  PMID: 6322181

Abstract

The issue of whether brain signals in the absence of peripheral feedback are sufficient to specify accurate movement was evaluated by studying motor performance in patients with loss of somesthetic afferent input as a result of acquired large-fiber sensory neuropathy. With visual guidance, movements and postures were impaired relatively little, but when visual guidance was unavailable, the patients exhibited postural drift and gross inaccuracy of movement. Impairments were more apparent for smaller (3 degrees) than for larger (15 degrees) movements. Previous studies that have failed to show major motor impairments in deafferented subjects examined movements involving rather large joint displacements, and this may have been a factor in the failure of these studies to reveal severe deficits. The present results demonstrate a critical role for somesthetic feedback in regulating centrally generated levels of motor output and show that central motor programs deprived of such feedback are unable to subserve accurate motor control.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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