Listening Section 4: Note & Table Completion: Question 10

Transcript-based practice (no audio).

Lecturer: Close your eyes for a second and touch your nose with your index finger. Most people manage this instantly, without looking, and that's thanks to a sense most of us never think about: proprioception, the body's internal awareness of the position and movement of its own limbs.

The term itself was coined in 1906 by the British physiologist Charles Scott Sherrington, who combined the Latin words for "one's own" and "to receive" to describe this hidden sensory system.

Proprioception depends on three main types of receptor. Muscle spindles, embedded within the muscle tissue itself, detect changes in muscle length and the speed of that change. Golgi tendon organs, located where muscle meets tendon, monitor the tension generated by a contracting muscle. And joint receptors, found in the tissue surrounding each joint, register the angle and pressure at that joint.

Together, these three systems send a constant stream of signals to the brain, allowing us to know where our limbs are and how they're moving without needing to look at them, which is exactly why the nose-touching test works with your eyes shut.

Clinicians often assess this system using something called the Romberg test, which simply asks a patient to stand with their feet together and their eyes closed. A healthy proprioceptive system keeps a person steady; significant swaying or loss of balance can indicate a proprioceptive deficit.

One of the most striking cases in the medical literature is that of a British patient who, after a rare viral illness in 1971, permanently lost all proprioceptive and touch sensation from the neck down, despite his muscles themselves remaining undamaged. He had to relearn to walk and move almost entirely by using vision to consciously monitor and correct every movement, a strategy that collapses instantly in darkness.

This case has become central to research on sensory substitution and rehabilitation, because it demonstrates just how much conscious effort the brain normally saves us by handling proprioceptive feedback automatically, below the level of awareness.

More recently, sports scientists have become particularly interested in proprioception because athletes with well-trained proprioceptive systems recover faster from ankle and knee injuries and are significantly less likely to suffer repeat sprains. This has led to a rise in balance-board and wobble-cushion training as a standard part of injury-prevention programmes for footballers and other athletes at every level.

Engineers are also getting involved: several labs are now developing wearable sensors designed to mimic proprioceptive feedback for use in advanced prosthetic limbs.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

PROPRIOCEPTION: LECTURE NOTES

Definition

• Term coined in 1 __________ (year)
• Coined by physiologist 2 __________

Receptors

• 3 __________ detect changes in muscle length
• Golgi tendon organs monitor 4 __________ generated by a contracting muscle
• Joint receptors register angle and 5 __________ at a joint

Testing

• Clinicians assess proprioception using the 6 __________ test

Case study

• British patient lost proprioception after a viral illness in 7 __________ (year)

Applications

• Well-trained athletes have fewer repeat 8 __________