Proprioception: A New Era Set in Motion by Emerging Genetic and Bionic Strategies?
Paul D Marasco1,2,3, Joriene C de Nooij4
1Laboratory for Bionic Integration, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA;
Abstract:
The generation of an internal body model and its continuous update is essential in sensorimotor control. Although known to rely on proprioceptive sensory feedback, the underlying mechanism that transforms this sensory feedback into a dynamic body percept remains poorly understood. However, advances in the development of genetic tools for proprioceptive circuit elements, including the sensory receptors, are beginning to offer new and unprecedented leverage to dissect the central pathways responsible for proprioceptive encoding. Simultaneously, new data derived through emerging bionic neural machine-interface technologies reveal clues regarding the relative importance of kinesthetic sensory feedback and insights into the functional proprioceptive substrates that underlie natural motor behaviors.
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