The roles of mechanoreceptors in muscle and skin in human proprioception

The somatosensory nervous system is subserved by specialised mechanoreceptors in muscles, joints and skin. We now know that joint receptors primarily act as limit detectors of joint rotation, and that both cutaneous afferents and muscle spindle afferents can encode joint movements. Moreover, studies in individuals lacking muscle spindles emphasise the importance of these receptors in sensorimotor control, but also point to the redundancy in the system that allows cutaneous afferents to take over.