Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
addClaim

Smartphone-Induced Sensorimotor Noise and Proprioceptive Drift in the Cervicothoracic Spine: Implications for Joint Position Accuracy and Sensorimotor Rehabilitation

Authors: P Muthukrishnan; Dr. Raja Durai;

Smartphone-Induced Sensorimotor Noise and Proprioceptive Drift in the Cervicothoracic Spine: Implications for Joint Position Accuracy and Sensorimotor Rehabilitation

Abstract

Background: Prolonged smartphone use imposes sustained biomechanical loading on the cervical and thoracic spine, yet existing literature has predominantly focused on pain syndromes and postural alterations without adequately examining the underlying sensorimotor control deficits. Sensorimotor noise-the inherent variability in afferent proprioceptive signaling-may accumulate during prolonged cervical flexion, leading to proprioceptive drift and impaired reposition accuracy. Objective: This experimental study examined whether habitual smartphone posture induces sensorimotor noise and proprioceptive drift in cervicothoracic joint position sense, and whether a structured sensorimotor retraining protocol restores reposition precision. Methods: Forty asymptomatic young adults (aged 20-28 years) with more than five hours of daily smartphone use completed multi-angle cervical and thoracic reposition tests. Primary outcomes included absolute reposition error, variable error, constant error, proprioceptive drift index, and sensorimotor noise coefficient. Participants completed a six-week sensorimotor retraining programme (three sessions weekly) incorporating variable-target reposition exercises, closed-chain cervical stabilisation, and cervico-thoracic kinetic chain training. Results: All outcome measures improved significantly (p < 0.001). Cervical reposition error decreased from 6.8° (SD = 1.9) to 2.9° (SD = 0.8) with Cohen's d = 2.68. Thoracic reposition error reduced from 5.4° (SD = 1.6) to 2.3° (SD = 0.7) (d = 2.42). Variable error decreased from 4.2° to 1.6° (d = 2.98). Proprioceptive drift index reduced from 0.68 to 0.28 (d = 3.61), and sensorimotor noise coefficient decreased from 0.82 to 0.34 (d = 3.30). Conclusion: Habitual smartphone posture significantly increases sensorimotor noise and proprioceptive drift in the cervicothoracic spine. Structured sensorimotor retraining effectively restored multi-segment proprioceptive precision, offering a novel rehabilitation framework that addresses the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying smartphoneinduced sensorimotor dysfunction.

  • BIP!
    Impact byBIP!
    selected citations
    These citations are derived from selected sources.
    This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    0
    popularity
    This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    Average
    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Upload OA version
Are you the author of this publication? Upload your Open Access version to Zenodo!
It’s fast and easy, just two clicks!