The crossmodal congruency task as a measure of intuitiveness of sensory feedback in the lower limb

Abstract

People with lower limb amputation lack somatosensory feedback from their prosthesis, and this loss contributes to functional deficits, including balance and gait impairments. Recent advances in neuroprostheses have demonstrated that electrical stimulation of sensory nerves in the residual limb and spinal cord can restore lost sensations in the lower limb. To maximize the efficacy of these somatosensory neuroprostheses, the restored sensations should be intuitive, seamlessly integrating into the sensorimotor network. However, it is challenging to quantify the intuitiveness of these evoked sensations. Recent studies have proposed using crossmodal congruency effect (CCE) tasks for this purpose in people with upper-limb amputation. The current study tests the feasibility of the CCE task for assessing the intuitiveness of sensory feedback in the lower limb. We hypothesized that CCE score would reliably differentiate between a more natural (pneumatic) sensation and a less natural (electric) sensation at two locations: the knee and the foot. Across fifteen able-bodied individuals, we observed that the CCE task differentiates sensory modalities at the knee, but not at the foot. Identification of external factors affecting the CCE is needed before it can be implemented to measure intuitiveness of sensory feedback in lower-limb amputees.