Ability to Discriminate Movements at Multiple Joints around the Body: Global or Site-Specific

Abstract

This study tested whether proprioceptive discrimination of movement is a global, general ability, or an attribute that is specific to the joint tested. 40 right-handed, healthy, young adults (19 men, 21 women; M age = 20.4 yr., SD = 1.7) volunteered. A battery of versions of the Active Movement Extent Discrimination Apparatus (AMEDA) were employed to generate the stimuli for movements of different extents at the ankle, knee, spine, shoulder, and finger; discrimination accuracy scores were derived from participants' responses. No significant correlations were found between the discrimination scores from the five sites (all rs ≤ .21, all ps ≥ .20). This finding extends a previous report of non-significantly correlated proprioception test scores at two lower limb sites, and the findings taken together suggest that rather than proprioception being a global, general ability, sensitivity to the proprioception that underlies movement control is site-specific.