The effect of altering afferent input from the spine and limbs on sensorimotor integration

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Sensorimotor integration (SMI) is the ability of the central nervous system (CNS) to integrate afferent (incoming) information from different body parts and formulate appropriate motor outputs to muscles. Effective sensorimotor integration is essential when learning new skills and when performing tasks at home and in the workplace. Impaired sensorimotor integration may partially explain why pain becomes chronic and why workers frequently injure themselves in jobs with a high level of repetitive activity and/or postural stress. My research explores the basic science of the interaction between afferent input from the neck and upper limb and will contribute to a solid science foundation that underpins motor learning and performance enhancement as well playing a role in injury prevention. It has the potential to make contributions to the health and well-being of Canadians as well applying the resultant basic science knowledge to improved strategies for workplace design and motor skill training for work, sport and leisure. Altered input from the neck and back due to fatigue or postural stress may alter processing of sensory information from the upper limb. It is hypothesized that changing sensory feedback from the neck alters the environment in the nervous system into which subsequent sensory feedback from the limbs is received and processed, thus leading to altered "sensorimotor" integration of that input and changes in motor output to muscles and the way movement is controlled. This research involves the application of two techniques which can be used to measure sensorimotor integration in human subjects, namely somatosensory evoked potentials which measure the processing of sensory information by the brain and the application of transcranial magnetic stimulation over the human motor cortex, which measures the balance of motor output to a defined target muscle. These two techniques will help us understand how changing sensory processing from the neck and upper limb affects the way the brain controls the output to hand and arm muscles.