Article

The perception of verticality results from the integration of
vestibular, visual and somatosensory information. Spinal cord injured patients
with complete paraplegia have total somatosensory deafferentation below a certain
metameric segment. In our study, we were interested in the implication of
somatosensory signal in the construction of verticality and in the possible
effect of somatosensory loss on spatial representation. We analysed
haptic and postural aspects of perceived verticality in 14 spinal cord injured
patients with complete paraplegia and in an age- and gender-matched group of 13
controls. We also conducted a structured interview on the existence of vertigo or
postural instability in daily life. RESULTS: The spinal cord injured patients
perceived verticality without any significant directional bias in the orientation
of the vertical but with a greater uncertainty than control subjects, both in
haptic and postural modalities.
If paraplegic did not report vertigo, half
described an altered spatial perception without vision. CONCLUSION: The present
results confirm the importance of sensory input from the trunk and the lower
limbs in the perception of the vertical. However, visual and vestibular
information appear to compensate for somatosensory deafferentation.
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Langue : ANGLAIS ; FRANCAIS