kinaesthesia

Kinaesthesia, also spelled kinesthesia, refers to the sense of movement and the perception of limb motion. It enables a person to feel how their body parts move without visual input, including direction, speed, and effort. This feedback allows motor actions to be adjusted in real time and supports balance, coordination, and skilled movement such as walking, reaching, or playing a musical instrument.

Physiological basis: Kinaesthetic information arises from receptors in muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and the skin, particularly muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs. Signals travel to the spinal cord and brain, where the cerebellum and somatosensory cortex integrate them to produce conscious movement perception and to guide ongoing motor control. Proprioception and kinaesthesia are closely related terms; some sources treat kinaesthesia as movement sensation, while proprioception encompasses both limb position and movement.

Development and relevance: Kinaesthetic abilities develop with motor experience and practice and can be affected by neurological injury or disease. The sense is central to activities such as dance, sports, and rehabilitation that emphasize body awareness. Clinically and in research, kinesthetic perception can be assessed by movement-detection tasks or joint-position tests, and researchers study kinesthetic illusion using techniques like tendon vibration to better understand the sensory-motor system.