Multisensory Control of Upper Extremity Function

Abstract

&NA; The purpose of this paper is to develop a foundation for understanding potential intervention strategies for problems of fine motor control of the upper limb based on the integration of the physiological principles of voluntary motor movement, sensory processing, and neural adaptation. The paper concludes with a clinical example illustrating how the limits of plasticity of the nervous system and a loss of fine motor control can result in focal hand dystonia. The success of remediation of motor impairment through sensory training is proposed as a model to build dynamic, aggressive sensorimotor retraining programs for patients with motor movement dysfunction that has a sensory component.