Functional role of somatosensory system to control voluntary movement

Abstract

A motor program for controlling one’s own movement requires sensory signals from the target body parts. Information for movement is provided by sensory feedback such as visual and somatosensory information. Previous studies indicated that cortical activity related to sensory response and perception is modified by movement executing mechanisms. The integration of sensory information and motor command is critical for motor control and recognition of one movement. However, this raises the issue of how central nervous system integrates motor command and sensory information whenever the intended movement is in progress. Preceding and during voluntary movement, the efference copy in relation to motor signal from motor related areas modified the information processing in somatosensory areas. This review introduces the research topics of sensorimotor integration and new findings according to recent studies of the somatosensory system in relation to sports science.