Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42395473›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2026

Cervical spinal cord stimulation disrupts proprioception yet improves voluntary arm reaching.

Erick Carranza, Roberto de Freitas, Nikhil Verma, Luigi Borda, Erynn Sorensen, Amy Boos, George Wittenberg, Lee Fisher, Marc P Powell, Peter Gerszten and 5 more

Abstract readPreprint
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Erick CarranzaRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8502-3222
Roberto de FreitasRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4169-5692
Nikhil VermaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Luigi BordaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0009-0003-4670-8530
Erynn SorensenRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0988-4132
Amy BoosRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
George WittenbergRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5603-1197
Lee FisherRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9072-3119
Marc P PowellRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4880-2745
Peter GersztenDepartment of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Douglas WeberDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9782-3497
John W KrakauerDepartment of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Jonathan TsayCenter for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3992-9023
Marco CapogrossoRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0975-316X
Elvira PirondiniRehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8078-3951

Funding

Spinal Cord Stimulation to Improve Motor Function in People with Post-Stroke HemiplegiaUG3NS123135 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI CAPOGROSSO, MARCO, WEBER, DOUGLAS J · 2022 to 2024
$4.7M
NINDS NIH HHS UG3 NS123135
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Whether proprioception is necessary for upper-limb motor control has been debated for decades. Classic studies in deafferented animals and humans suggested that proprioception may be dispensable for rapid, goal-directed movements. However, chronic sensory loss conflates the absence of proprioceptive input with years of compensatory adaptation. As a result, the field has lacked a strong causal test of proprioception's contribution to motor control. Here, we leveraged a clinical trial of cervical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in individuals with chronic post-stroke hemiparesis to study if electrical stimulation of sensory afferents causally perturbs proprioception and affects arm reaching. We found that turning SCS ON causally impaired proprioceptive perception and postural stabilization in response to force perturbations, and enhanced adaptation to visual errors during implicit learning. Yet visually and non-visually rapid, goal-directed reaching improved in smoothness, straightness and spatial accuracy. These findings provide strong causal evidence that proprioception is not required for rapid, goal-directed action, helping resolve a decades-long debate regarding its necessity for effective movement.

Identifiers

PMID42395473
PMCPMC13320801

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.