Jürgen Konczak Studies how Motor Training in One Arm Affects Performance in the Other Arm

 

Juergen Konczak Profile Photo

School of Kinesiology professor Jürgen Konczak, PhD, and members of the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory (HSCL) published an article in Scientific Reports. Yizhao Wang, MS, from the Tianjin Huanhu Hospital in China, and recent Kinesiology MS graduate Huiying Zhu, MS, are the lead authors of the paper. Other co-authors were Naveen Elangovan, PhD from the HSCL and European collaborators Leonardo Cappello, (Pisa, Italy), Giulio Sandini, (Genova, Italy), and Lorenzo Masia (Heidelberg, Germany). 

The article, “A robot-aided visuomotor wrist training induces gains in proprioceptive and movement accuracy in the contralateral wrist,” examined if proprioceptive training improves motor performance in contralateral joints. Proprioceptive training is a neurorehabilitation approach known to improve proprioceptive acuity and motor performance of a joint and limb system. This study provides first evidence that proprioceptive-focused visuomotor training can induce proprioceptive and motor gains not only in the trained joint but also in the contralateral, homologous joint. The researchers discuss the possible neurophysiological mechanism behind such sensorimotor transfer and its implications for neurorehabilitation.