Lower Limb Proprioceptive Feedback and Motor Coordination in Health and Neuropathology

Proprioceptive feedback from muscle spindles (length) and Golgi tendon organs (force) helps coordinate muscles in the lower limb. This coordination is achieved by sensory feedback from a muscle acting to influence motor output of the same muscle (homonymous) and other muscles (heteronymous) via spinal reflex networks. This talk will briefly review foundational research characterizing the functional roles of length- and force-related feedback in the feline model before transitioning to human studies. Recent work examining the extent to which heteronymous reflexes are modulated to facilitate coordination across different postural conditions will be discussed. Finally, ongoing work investigating whether altered modulation of heteronymous reflexes from the quadriceps to the soleus contributes to motor impairment following a stroke will be presented.