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

感觉运动整合（SMI）是中枢神经系统（CNS）整合来自不同身体部位的传入（传入）信息并形成适当的运动输出到肌肉的能力。有效的感觉运动整合在学习新技能和在家庭和工作场所执行任务时是必不可少的。感觉运动整合受损可以部分解释为什么疼痛会变成慢性疼痛，以及为什么工人在高水平重复性活动和/或姿势压力的工作中经常伤害自己。我的研究探索了来自颈部和上肢的传入输入之间相互作用的基础科学，并将为支持运动学习和性能增强以及在伤害预防中发挥作用奠定坚实的科学基础。它有可能为加拿大人的健康和福祉作出贡献，并将由此产生的基础科学知识应用于改进工作场所设计和工作、运动和休闲运动技能培训的战略。由于疲劳或体位压力，来自颈部和背部的输入改变可能改变来自上肢的感觉信息的处理。据推测，颈部感觉反馈的改变改变了神经系统中的环境，随后来自四肢的感觉反馈被接收和处理，从而导致该输入的“感觉运动”整合改变，运动输出到肌肉和运动控制方式的改变。这项研究涉及到两种技术的应用，这两种技术可用于测量人类受试者的感觉运动整合，即体感诱发电位，它测量大脑对感觉信息的处理，以及经颅磁刺激在人类运动皮层的应用，它测量运动输出到特定目标肌肉的平衡。这两种技术将帮助我们理解颈部和上肢感觉处理的变化如何影响大脑控制手和手臂肌肉输出的方式。

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.