Proprioception of the knee joint. Paradoxical effect of training.

Two tests frequently used to measure joint proprioception were performed on the knees of twelve members of a professional ballet company to determine the effect of extensive athletic training on this sensation. These tests measured the threshold of perception of joint motion and the ability of a subject to reproduce a joint position. A healthy, active age-matched control group was also tested. Results show that dancers performed significantly better on the threshold test (p less than 0.05) and significantly worse when reproducing a joint position (p less than 0.05) than the control group. The strong implication is that athletic training can affect joint proprioception and that these two tests are in fact, dependent on different neural mechanisms.