Proprioception from Your Cane or Paddle

When you use a tool regularly, you develop a proprioceptive sense that includes the tool. If you are an experienced kayaker, your proprioceptive envelope becomes everything from bow to stern and paddle tip to paddle tip. The same is true for people with neuropathy who use a cane — their brains (and other thinking bits everywhere in your body) give the tip of the cane its proprioceptive heft.

Tool-Use Training Induces Changes of the Body Schema in the Limb Without Using Tool