Summary
An experiment is reported which examined whether gravitational torque acting about a joint is used by the CNS in elbow joint angle matching. Subjects were required to match the joint angles of their two limbs while the external torques acting about each elbow were systematically varied. It was found that when the matching limb was differentially loaded, the error in the produced reference angle corresponded to the directional prediction of a proposed gravitational torque hypothesis. The data suggest that torque sensation is an accessory source of information in limb positioning.
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This research was partially supported by grants from NATO Scientific Affiars Division, RG82/0227 and US Public Health Service, NS17421 and AG05154 awarded to G. E. Stelmach
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Worringham, C.J., Stelmach, G.E. The contribution of gravitational torques to limb position sense. Exp Brain Res 61, 38–42 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235618
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235618