Visual proprioception in the timing of movements: evidence from deafferentation

The present study investigated the control of movements in two patients with severe somatosensory deafferentation by systematically manipulating the visual information about the produced movements. In a synchronization task requiring the production of finger taps in synchrony with a regular auditory signal, participants controlled their movements under full vision or when the sight of the effector was partially or completely occluded. Results demonstrated large effects of visual feedback on the synchronization performance in the deafferented patients. Although the patients' performance differed substantially from that of unimpaired controls under partial or no feedback, their performance was comparable under full vision, the latter suggesting a compensation of the somatosensory loss by visual monitoring.