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Delos s.r.l.
Corso Lecce, 15
10145 Torino [Italy]
Tel. +39 011 777.03.41
Fax. +39 011 777.89.07
P.IVA 07243910010
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Proprioception (the term propioception is wrong because the word derives from the latin "proprium")
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Proprioception means the flow of signals that originates from the peripheral receptors in the muscles, tendons, joints and reaches the most primitive structures of the Nervous System: spinal cord, brainstem and the oldest part of the cerebellum. These structures are termed subcortical because they are not under conscious control.
Every single moment, throughout one’s life, millions of items of information arising from the various peripheral receptors present in the muscles, tendons, joints, eye and inner ear are placed at disposal of the nervous system.
The ability to integrate the signals and to supply an adequate motor response tends however to adapt itself to the usual level of use. In fact the impoverishment of motor experiences which concerns the entire Western population progressively reduces the ability to interpret peripheral signals.
The functional decay of the structures involved in proprioception is much slower than that of osteoarticular structures responsible for movement. The subcortical system of control would therefore maintain a very high functional potential, even in very advanced age and in orthopaedic and neurological pathologies.
The decisive factor will be the choice of suitable means of stimulation. The use of a rocking board, which permits each inclination to be controllable, combined with an electronic apparatus which provides real time visual tracking of the inclination, significantly increases the number of biomechanical situations of instability which the subject has to manage in a time unit.
In other words the subject must continuously try to realign his barycentre to the vertical line containing the point of support, the fulcrum of the board and the virtual centre of the ankle, which are already constantly aligned.
The presence of visual tracking considerably multiplies the number of rolling movements of the board and subsequent inclinations, which the subject has to manage at each instant. Furthermore from a biomechanical point of view, only if the instrument allows for extremely brief stop-inversion times is it possible to manage a high frequency of tasks.
These conditions are necessary for a maximal activation of proprioception and particularly proprioceptive spinal reflexes, indispensable for the functional stability of the joints.
The studies of Riva et al., currently under way, are demonstrating how a specific program of high frequency proprioceptive reprogramming may lead, in the medium-long term, to important structural remodelling not only on the part of the muscles and tendons, but also of the joints and bones, making it an essential subject of research for the prevention and treatment of the muscle atrophy and osteoporosis in conditions of reduced or zero gravity.
Courtesy D. Riva. © D. Riva 1997-2007 All rights reserved.
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