Proprioception

proprioception (see kinesthesia), a sense that informs the body of the position of muscles, is the ability to sense the relative position of adjacent body parts. Proprioception regulates the direction and range of movement, allows automatic reactions and responses, intervenes in the development of the body schema and in its relationship with space, supporting planned motor action. Other functions in which it acts with more autonomy are balance control, coordination of both sides of the body, maintaining the level of alertness of the nervous system, and influencing emotional and behavioral development.^{[ citation required]}

Base

The nervous system includes any sensory receptors or nerve endings that provide internal or proprioceptive sensitivity to the body. Proprioceptors are located in muscles, joints, tendons, and in the vestibular apparatus. Through its stimulation, we can know the position or the speed and acceleration linked to the movements of the body. Therefore, proprioceptors can be considered as a subsystem of interoceptors, which, in addition to receptors related to balance and body movement, includes receptors sensitive to blood pressure or chemoreceptors sensitive to pH, oxygen concentration, and dioxide concentration. carbon. Interoreceptors are also those that allow us to perceive body temperature, pain, hunger, thirst, bladder filling, or the desire to defecate.

In a strict sense, proprioceptors include the vestibular system or apparatus of the ear (related to the perception of balance and body movements) and the set of joint and muscle receptors (muscle spindle, Golgi tendon organ, joint receptors), which measure the state of tension and degree of stretching of the muscles, tendons and ligaments. In another sense, proprioceptors are mechanoreceptors in that they are activated as a result of mechanical pressure or traction.

Proprioceptive system

The proprioceptive system is the name given to the set of receptors and nerves that make up proprioception.

The correct term would be proprioceptive as it derives from the Latin proprius, which means own. But nowadays the use of the term proprioceptive has been imposed in the medical community and it is considered valid.

Unlike the five senses of exteroception (vision, taste, smell, touch, and hearing) by which we perceive the outside world, proprioception is a sense of interoception by which one is aware of the internal state of the body.

Dysfunction of the proprioceptive system

The dysfunction of this system is expressed in motor clumsiness: difficulty keeping the head and body upright, performing coordinated activities with both hands, and handling tools. Lack of concentration is also observed, due to postural restlessness, trunk rigidity and absence of the notion of danger.

Vestibular system

The vestibular system responds to body movements through space and changes in head position. In conjunction with the proprioceptive system, it maintains muscle tone, automatically coordinates the movement of the eyes, head, and body, maintaining a stable visual field, and is essential in the perception of space and in the orientation of the body in relation to it.

Dysfunction of the vestibular system

The dysfunction of this system is expressed in: decreased muscle tone, deficiencies in balance, in motor activity and in automatic movements. Difficulties also appear in the recording of visual information, in visual tracking of moving objects, in midline crossing, in convergence, in transcribing from the blackboard and into the notebook, and in visuospatial perception. In addition, poor bilateral integration, laterospatial organization, right-left coordination, and hemispheric specialization are observed. Hyperactivity and distractibility due to lack of modulation and emotional instability are also observed.