In our work with deafferentation (C2-T12) we found that monkey were quite competent in developing exquisite digital coordination in order to learn coordinated and counterbalanced digital collaboration. But leaving a small rootlet intact caused severe discoordination of such movements. But if a rootlet is left intact, that input greatly discoordinates digital movements well learned. Similarly, dorsal column lesion, DC nuclei lesion but not Cuneo-cerebellar tract lesion alone caused "permanent" (9 months of daily testing) loss of digital coordination seen in monkeys post-op. Superimposed dorsal rhizotomy (deafferentation) resulted in recovery of digital coordination that seemed umrecoverable. This raises an old question: does residual sensory input as REAFFERENCE become NOISE that the monkey can neither exploit nor control. Thus, ascending disordered input may well impede motor programs.

More Daniel Teodoru's questions See All
Similar questions and discussions