What are the stimuli that our body perceives called?
Deep sensation, also known as proprioception or kinesthesia, is the manner in which our body responds to stimuli pertaining to pressure, stretching, position, and movement of specific body parts in relation to one another. These receptors are situated within the structures of the movement organ, including muscles, tendons, and ligaments. The data obtained by these receptors is subsequently conveyed to the brain, furnishing us with information regarding our muscle tension, as well as the duration, dimensions, and potency of these stimuli.
A disorder of the senses of one's own body
The cerebellum is a compact structure of our brain located in the posterior cranial fossa. Despite its modest size, the cerebellum fulfills a vital function in our body – it receives a vast amount of sensory information from numerous brain centers. Once information arrives, the cerebellum integrates and fine-tunes it so that motor movements are accurate, smooth, and well-coordinated. It is thanks to the cerebellum that we can learn and master motor habits, such as cycling or jumping rope. This means the cerebellum is responsible for muscle memory, acting as a repository of motor patterns acquired throughout life. Impairment of deep sensation (proprioception) is intrinsically linked to cerebellar damage, giving rise to cerebellar syndrome. This condition presents in acute and chronic forms, caused by factors ranging from head trauma, alcohol/drug intoxication, and cranial malformations to cerebellar tumors, hypothyroidism, and degenerative or demyelinating neurological disorders (such as multiple sclerosis). Cerebellar syndrome manifests through characteristic symptoms, notably cerebellar ataxia and a broad-based gait due to equilibrium impairment. Patients frequently experience postural instability, intention tremor during targeted movements, dysdiadochokinesia (inability to execute rapid alternating movements), nystagmus, muscular hypotonia, and staccato speech.
Recognition of kinesthesia
The evaluation of deep sensitivity is completely different from the evaluation of typical sensory disorders. The analysis of proprioception involves determining the sensation of angular position in the joint (whether the patient is able to perform movement in a specific angular range), the ability to sense passive movement in the joint (defining what movement is) and the assessment of muscle tension itself. A crucial aspect in deep sensing research is the exclusion of other interconnected systems that work with the brain – surface sensation, hearing, and vision. Next, the sensation of balance, also known as lateral balance, is examined. It is a common method for evaluating the ability of the brain system to maintain balance on both stable and unstable surfaces (e.g., sand, gravel, a mat with protrusions). Increasingly, dynamometric platforms or posturographs are used for the examination of deep sensation – in combination with gait analysis or EMG, they allow for an accurate determination of which muscle groups (both superficial and deep) exhibit a reduced ability to contract and work.
Kinesthetic Training
Even though the kinesthetic sense is not as productive as the sense of sight or hearing, it does not imply that we cannot enhance it. When proprioceptive training enables a better sensation of our own body, it translates to: better muscle activity during training; more efficient muscle mass development; more effective nerve-muscle conduction; improved achievements in motion coordination, flexibility, and dexterity.