Maintaining upright posture is a complex task requiring the integration of afferent information from the visual, somatosensory
and
vestibular systems. Proprioception, one of the senses supported by the somatosensory system, is essential to carry out the
corrective
motions needed to maintain balance. Indeed, a decrease in proprioceptive accuracy has been related to balance deficits and
an
increased risk of falling. Ballet dancers have been shown to integrate proprioceptive signals more strongly and rely more
on
proprioception than non-dancers, while proprioceptive acuity has been shown to be impaired in knee osteoarthritis (KOA)
patients.
However, the dissimilarities arising from differences in proprioceptive acuity and integration at the level of the cerebral
cortex are
unknown. Thus, this project aims to characterize objective neurophysiological markers of efficient proprioceptive
integration. In the
long term, this could help implement and optimize strategies to attenuate the decline in proprioception in
pathological populations.

Collaboration : Scott Mongold, Marc Vander Ghinst, Gilles Naeije