Neck Muscle Vibration Alters Upper Limb Proprioception as Demonstrated by Changes in Accuracy and Precision during an Elbow Repositioning Task

Upper limb control depends on accurate internal models of limb position relative to the head and neck, accurate sensory inputs, and accurate cortical processing. Transient alterations in neck afferent feedback induced by muscle vibration may impact upper limb proprioception. This research aimed to determine the effects of neck muscle vibration on upper limb proprioception using a novel elbow repositioning task (ERT). 26 right-handed participants aged 22.21 ± 2.64 performed the ERT consisting of three target angles between 80–90° (T1), 90–100° (T2) and 100–110° (T3). Controls (CONT) (n = 13, 6F) received 10 min of rest and the vibration group (VIB) (n = 13, 6F) received 10 min of 60 Hz vibration over the right sternocleidomastoid and left cervical extensor muscles. Task performance was reassessed following experimental manipulation. Significant time by group interactions occurred for T1: (F(1,24) = 25.330, p < 0.001, η(p)(2) = 0.513) where CONT improved by 26.08% and VIB worsened by 134.27%, T2: (F(1,24) = 16.157, p < 0.001, η(p)(2) = 0.402) where CONT improved by 20.39% and VIB worsened by 109.54%, and T3: (F(1,24) = 21.923, p < 0.001, η(p)(2) = 0.447) where CONT improved by 37.11% and VIB worsened by 54.39%. Improvements in repositioning accuracy indicates improved proprioceptive ability with practice in controls. Decreased accuracy following vibration suggests that vibration altered proprioceptive inputs used to construct body schema, leading to inaccurate joint position sense and the observed changes in elbow repositioning accuracy.