Library · Physiology
Proprioception
Make it clearer
Proprioception is the sense that lets you know where the parts of your body are and how they are moving, without having to look at them. It is knowing where your hand is with your eyes closed. It counts as one of the general senses, along with touch, pain, temperature, vibration and pressure.
It does not come out of nowhere: it is produced by receptors called mechanoreceptors, the ones that respond to physical changes such as stretch or tension. Two of them do the main work. Muscle spindles sit inside the belly of the muscle, which is its thick, fleshy part. Golgi tendon organs sit at the junction between the muscle and the tendon, the cord that anchors it to the bone.
That information has to reach the brain, and it travels up a route with a name of its own: the posterior column and medial lemniscus pathway. It is the same highway that fine touch and vibration travel on.
In brief
Proprioception is the sense of the position and movement of body parts, and it is one of the general senses.
It is knowing where your hand is with your eyes closed.
It comes from mechanoreceptors: muscle spindles, which sit in the belly of the muscle, and Golgi tendon organs, at the junction with the tendon.
That information travels along the posterior column and medial lemniscus pathway, the same route that carries fine touch and vibration.
Sources (2)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Sensory System, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Sensory Receptors, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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