The neuroscience and phenomenology of sensory loss

Abstract

Historically deafferentation has been seen in the context of a late effect of syphilis, (before the spirochaete’s effects were largely killed off by antibiotics, at least in Western societies). One of the consequences of the chronic late stage of the disease is atrophy of the dorsal columns of the spinal cord, leading to loss of the tracts carrying touch and proprioception. This in turn led to the characteristic broad based staggering gait and uncontrolled ataxic movements. Dispassionate accounts of the consequences of this may have been made more difficult by the fact that with ataxia comes intractable lightning pains¹. That such deafferentiation could arise from other peripheral and central causes of loss of proprioception was less clear²

One famous account of living with syphilis is In the Land of Pain by Aiphone Daudet, translated by Julian Barnes (2002) Random House/Jonathan Cape, London.

Proprioception is a rather imprecise term, being used by some to relate to the perception of movement and position sense and by others as afferent information underpinning these percepts but not all perceived [22].