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The role and function that proprioception plays in movement and motor learning have been debated since the 19th century but can be difficult to isolate and study. Lesions at various points along the proprioceptive pathway result in afferent paresis that can be significantly disabling. Compensatory mechanisms can help with successful rehabilitation and provide an opportunity to study the role of these mechanisms in sensory feedback. Here, we present two cases of adult patients with complete hemisensory loss after a stroke: one patient with a cortical stroke and the other one with a thalamic stroke. First, we see that that motor learning can occur without proprioception, with the help of visual feedback. Second, proprioception plays an important role in movement: in the upper limb, it can facilitate individual finger movements, and in the lower limb, it maintains sufficient knee flexion to prevent the knee from going into recurvatum (backward bending) during ambulation.

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is now recognized as an articulation disorder distinct from dysarthria and aphasia. Various lesions have been associated with AOS in studies that are limited in precise localization due to variability in size and type of pathology. We present a case of pure AOS in setting of an acute stroke to localize more precisely than ever before the brain area responsible for AOS, dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC). The dPMC is in unique position to plan and coordinate speech production by virtue of its connection with nearby motor cortex harboring corticobulbar tract, supplementary motor area, inferior frontal operculum, and temporo-parietal area via the dorsal stream of dual-stream model of speech processing. The role of dPMC is further supported as part of dorsal stream in the dual-stream model of speech processing as well as controller in the hierarchical state feedback control model., (Copyright © 2017 Polish Neurological Society. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.)

Syphilis has long been known as the great imitator. Its heterogeneity can manifest in the form of meningitis, space occupying gummas, vasculitis, strokes, cranial neuropathies, myelopathy, dementia, and seizures. The incidence has been rising with each year, mainly in men who have sex with men accounting for 83% of cases. With the coexistence of immunocompromised states, especially HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the usually chronic and insidious course of tertiary neurosyphilis can be accelerated. Stroke can occur as a result of neurosyphilis in its meningovascular form, and the likelihood of this increases with HIV co-infection, especially in high-risk groups such as intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men. Here, we discuss a case of a young man who presented with an ischemic stroke found to have neurosyphilis and HIV and consider the management of these co-morbid conditions.