The role of proprioceptive information for the production of isometric forces and for handwriting tasks

Abstract

A patient showing a total loss of all the large sensory myelinated fibers but intact peripheral motor system produced simple isometric force pulses and more complex tasks like handwriting and drawing. Overall, the patient was able to perform the isometric force task with an accuracy that approached that of normal subjects. The writing tasks, however, proved to be more challenging. In absence of vision, the different forms and cursive trajectories forming letters (morphocinetic components) were preserved but their localization within the constraints of the graphic space (topocinetic components) were severely impaired. These results demonstrate that, in absence of visual information, proprioceptive information is necessary to calibrate the hand in space.