Changes in Reciprocal Inhibition Across the Ankle Joint With Changes in External Load and Pedaling Rate During Bicycling

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 3168-3177 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. Pyndt ◽  
M. Laursen ◽  
J. B. Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Linear Relation ◽  
External Load ◽  
Plantar Flexion ◽  
Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽  
Reciprocal Inhibition ◽  
Tonic Contraction ◽  
H Reflex ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Ankle Muscles ◽  
Pedaling Rate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of reciprocal inhibition in the regulation of antagonistic ankle muscles during bicycling. A total of 20 subjects participated in the study. Reciprocal inhibition was induced by stimulation of the peroneal nerve (PN) at 1.2 times threshold for the M-response in the tibialis anterior muscle (TA) and recorded as a depression of the rectified soleus (SOL) EMG. Recordings were made during tonic plantar flexion and during bicycling on an ergometer bicycle. During tonic contraction, the amount of inhibition in the SOL EMG was linearly correlated to the amount of background EMG. This linear relation was used to calculate the expected amount of reciprocal inhibition at corresponding EMG levels during bicycling. During the early phase of down-stroke of bicycling at 60 revolutions per minute (RPM) and an external load of 1.0 kg, the amount of recorded reciprocal inhibition was significantly smaller than that calculated from the linear relation during tonic contraction. In nine subjects, the SOL H-reflex was used to evaluate the amount of inhibition. At a short conditioning test interval (2–3 ms), the PN stimulation depressed the SOL H-reflex when the subjects were at rest. This short latency inhibition was absent during downstroke, but appeared during upstroke just prior to and during TA activation. A positive linear relation was found between the level of SOL background EMG in early downstroke and the external load (0.5–2.5 kg) as well as the rate of pedaling (30–90 RPM at 1.0 kg external load). The amount of inhibition in the SOL EMG when expressed as a percentage of the background EMG activity decreased significantly with increasing load. During increased pedaling rate, a similar decrease was seen, but it did not reach a statistically significant level. The data illustrate that reciprocal inhibition of the soleus muscle is modulated during bicycling being small in downstroke when the SOL muscle is active and large in upstroke where the muscle is inactive and its antagonist becomes active. The depression of the inhibition in relation to increased load and pedaling rate likely reflects the need of reducing inhibition of the SOL motoneurons to ensure a sufficient activation of the muscle.

Spinal reciprocal inhibition in human locomotion

2004 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 1969-1977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiko Kido ◽  
Naofumi Tanaka ◽  
Richard B. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Tibial Nerve ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽  
Reciprocal Inhibition ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Fast Walking ◽  
Tibial Nerve Stimulation ◽  
The Difference

The purpose of this paper was to study spinal inhibition during several different motor tasks in healthy human subjects. The short-latency, reciprocal inhibitory pathways from the common peroneal (CP) nerve to the soleus muscle and from the tibial nerve to the tibialis anterior muscle were studied as a depression of ongoing voluntary electromyograph (EMG) activity. First, the effect of stimulus intensity on the amount of inhibition was examined to decide an appropriate stimulation to study the task-dependent modulation of inhibition. Then, the inhibition at one level of stimulation (1.5 × motor threshold) was investigated during standing, walking, and running. The change in slope of inhibition vs. EMG level, which approximates the fraction of ongoing activity that is inhibited, decreased with CP stimulation from 0.52 during standing to 0.30 during fast walking (6 km/h) to 0.17 during running at 9 km/h. Similarly, the slope decreased with tibial nerve stimulation from 0.68 (standing) to 0.42 (fast walking) to 0.35 (running at 9 km/h). All differences, except the last one, were highly significant ( P < 0.01, Student's t-test). However, the difference between walking (0.42) and running (0.36) at the same speed (6 km/h) was not significant with tibial nerve stimulation and only significant at P < 0.05 with CP nerve stimulation (0.30, 0.20). Also, the difference between standing (0.52) and slow walking (3 km/h; 0.41) with CP stimulation was not significant, but it was significant ( P < 0.01) with tibial nerve stimulation (0.68, 0.49). In conclusion, our findings indicate that spinal reciprocal inhibition decreases substantially with increasing speed and only changes to a lesser extent with task.

Spinal excitation and inhibition decrease as humans age

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 238-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiko Kido ◽  
Naofumi Tanaka ◽  
Richard B Stein
Keyword(s):  
Human Subjects ◽  
Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽  
Common Peroneal Nerve ◽  
Reciprocal Inhibition ◽  
H Reflex ◽  
Direct Stimulation ◽  
Voluntary Activity ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
First Time

Although changes in the soleus H-reflex (an electrical analog of the tendon jerk) with age have been examined in a number of studies, some controversy remains. Also, the effect of age on inhibitory reflexes has received little attention. The purpose of this paper was to examine some excitatory and inhibitory reflexes systematically in healthy human subjects having a wide range of ages. We confirmed that both the maximum H-reflex (Hmax) and the maximum M-wave (Mmax) (from direct stimulation of motor axons) decrease gradually with age. The decrease in Hmax was larger so the Hmax/Mmax ratio decreased dramatically with age. Interestingly, the modulation of the H-reflex during walking was essentially the same at all ages, suggesting that the pathways that modulate the H-reflex amplitude during walking are relatively well preserved during the aging process. We showed for the first time that the short-latency, reciprocal inhibitory pathways from the common peroneal nerve to soleus muscle and from the tibial nerve to the tibialis anterior muscle also decreased with age, when measured as a depression of ongoing voluntary activity. These results suggest that there may be a general decrease in excitability of spinal pathways with age. Thus, the use of age-matched controls is particularly important in assessing abnormalities resulting from disorders that occur primarily in the elderly.Key words: H-reflex, reciprocal inhibition, age.

scholarly journals Oscillatory Corticospinal Activity during Static Contraction of Ankle Muscles Is Reduced in Healthy Old versus Young Adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meaghan Elizabeth Spedden ◽  
Jens Bo Nielsen ◽  
Svend Sparre Geertsen
Keyword(s):  
Plantar Flexion ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Medial Gastrocnemius ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Ankle Muscles ◽  
Static Contraction ◽  
Young Subjects

Aging is accompanied by impaired motor function, but age-related changes in neural networks responsible for generating movement are not well understood. We aimed to investigate the functional oscillatory coupling between activity in the sensorimotor cortex and ankle muscles during static contraction. Fifteen young (20–26 yr) and fifteen older (65–73 yr) subjects were instructed to match a target force by performing static ankle dorsi- or plantar flexion, while electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded from the cortex and electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded from dorsi- (proximal and distal anterior tibia) and plantar (soleus and medial gastrocnemius) flexor muscles. EEG-EMG and EMG-EMG beta band (15–35 Hz) coherence was analyzed as an index of corticospinal activity. Our results demonstrated that beta cortico-, intra-, and intermuscular coherence was reduced in old versus young subjects during static contractions. Old subjects demonstrated significantly greater error than young subjects while matching target forces, but force precision was not related to beta coherence. We interpret this as an age-related decrease in effective oscillatory corticospinal activity during steady-state motor output. Additionally, our data indicate a potential effect of alpha coherence and tremor on performance. These results may be instrumental in developing new interventions to strengthen sensorimotor control in elderly subjects.

Differential Control of Reciprocal Inhibition During Walking Versus Postural and Voluntary Motor Tasks in Humans

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 429-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte A. Lavoie ◽  
Hervé Devanne ◽  
Charles Capaday
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Motor Activity ◽  
Reciprocal Inhibition ◽  
Swing Phase ◽  
Voluntary Contraction ◽  
H Reflex ◽  
Quiet Standing ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Reflex Amplitude ◽  
Differential Control

Lavoie, Brigitte A., Hervé Devanne, and Charles Capaday. Differential control of reciprocal inhibition during walking versus postural and voluntary motor tasks in humans. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 429–438, 1997. Experiments were done to determine whether the strength of reciprocal inhibition from ankle flexors to extensors can be controlled independently of the level of ongoing motor activity in a task-dependent manner. In this paper we use the term reciprocal inhibition in the functional sense—inhibition of the antagonist(s) during activity of the agonist(s)—without reference to specific neural pathways that may be involved. The strength of reciprocal inhibition of the soleus α-motoneurons was determined by measuring the amplitude of the H reflex during voluntary, postural, and locomotor tasks requiring activity of the ankle flexor tibialis anterior (TA). Differences in the strength of reciprocal inhibition between tasks were determined from plots of the soleus H reflex amplitude versus the mean value of the TA electromyogram (EMG). Additionally, in tasks involving movement, the correlation between the H reflex amplitude and the joint kinematics was calculated. In most subjects (15 of 22) the soleus H reflex decreased approximately linearly with increasing tonic voluntary contractions of the TA. The H reflex also decreased approximately linearly with the TA EMG activity when subjects where asked to lean backward. There were no statistical differences between the regression lines obtained in these tasks. In some subjects (7 of 22), however, the H reflex amplitude was independent of the level of TA EMG activity, except for a sudden drop at high levels of TA activity (∼60–80% of maximum voluntary contraction). The type of relation between the soleus H reflex and the TA EMG activity in these tasks was not correlated with the maximum H reflex to maximum M wave ( H max/ M max) ratio measured during quiet standing. In marked contrast, during the swing phase of walking—over the same range of TA EMG activity as during the tonic voluntary contraction task—the H reflex was reduced to zero in most subjects (24 of 31). In seven subjects the H reflex during the swing phase was reduced to some 5% of the value during quiet standing. The same result was found when subjects were asked to produce a stepping movement with one leg (OLS) in response to an auditory “go” signal. Additionally, in the OLS task it was possible to examine the behavior of the H reflex during the reaction time and thus to evaluate the relative contribution of central commands versus movement-related afferent activity to the inhibition of the soleus H reflex. In 11 of 12 subjects the H reflex attained its minimum value before either the onset of EMG activity or movement of any of the leg joints. It is significant that the H reflex was most powerfully inhibited during the swing phase of walking and the closely related OLS task. The H reflex was also measured during isolated ankle dorsiflexion movements. The subjects were asked to track a target displayed on a computer screen with dorsiflexion movements of the ankle. The trajectory of the target was the same as that of the ankle during the swing phase of walking. The soleus H reflexes were intermediate in size between the values obtained in the tonic contraction task and the walking or OLS tasks. A negative, but weak, correlation ( r 2 < 0.68) between the soleus H reflex and the TA EMG was found in 3 of 10 subjects. Furthermore, there was no correlation between the H reflex amplitude and the ankle angular displacement or angular velocity. In this task, as in the OLS task, the H reflex began to decrease during the reaction time before the onset of TA EMG activity. We conclude that the strength of reciprocal inhibition of the soleus α-motoneuron pool can thus be controlled independently of the level of motor activity in the ankle flexors. The strength of the inhibition of the antagonist(s) depends on the task, and for each task the strength of the inhibition is not necessarily proportional to the level of motor activity in the agonist(s). Additionally, the evidence suggests a strong central contribution to these task-dependent changes, because the inhibition of the H reflex is essentially completed during the reaction time before the onset of EMG activity or joint movement. The possible neural mechanisms involved in the task-dependent control of reciprocal inhibition are treated in the discussion.

Task-Specific Depression of the Soleus H-Reflex After Cocontraction Training of Antagonistic Ankle Muscles

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 3677-3687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica A. Perez ◽  
Jesper Lundbye-Jensen ◽  
Jens B. Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Presynaptic Inhibition ◽  
Tibialis Anterior ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Intracortical Inhibition ◽  
H Reflex ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Ankle Muscles ◽  
Simultaneous Activation

Ballet dancers have small soleus (SOL) H-reflex amplitudes, which may be related to frequent use of cocontraction of antagonistic ankle muscles. Indeed, SOL H-reflexes are depressed during cocontraction compared with plantarflexion at matched background EMG level. We investigated the effect of 30-min training of simultaneous activation of ankle dorsi- and plantarflexor muscles (cocontraction task) on the SOL H-reflex in 10 healthy volunteers. Measurements were taken during cocontraction. After training, there was a significant improvement in the ability of the subjects to perform a stable cocontraction. SOL H-reflex recruitment curves and H-max/M-max ratios were decreased after cocontraction training but not after 30 min of static dorsi or plantarflexion. The decreased H-reflex size correlated with improved motor performance. No changes in SOL and tibialis anterior (TA) EMG activity or EMG power were observed, suggesting that increased presynaptic inhibition of Ia afferents is a likely mechanism for H-reflex depression. In different sessions we measured SOL and TA motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) by using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), TMS-elicited suppression of SOL EMG, and coherence between electroencephalographic (EEG) activity (Cz) and TA and SOL EMG. SOL and TA MEPs were depressed, whereas TMS-elicited suppression of SOL EMG and coherence were increased after training. Decreased excitability of corticospinal neurons due to increased intracortical inhibition seems a likely explanation of these observations. Our results indicate that the depression in H-reflex observed during a cocontraction task can be trained and that repeated performance of tasks involving cocontraction may lead to prolonged changes in reflex and corticospinal excitability.

scholarly journals Specific modulation of corticomuscular coherence during submaximal voluntary isometric, shortening and lengthening contractions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorian Glories ◽  
Mathias Soulhol ◽  
David Amarantini ◽  
Julien Duclay
Keyword(s):  
H Reflex ◽  
Medial Gastrocnemius ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Lengthening Contractions ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Corticomuscular Coherence ◽  
Emg Signal ◽  
Voluntary Contractions ◽  
Spinal Excitability

AbstractDuring voluntary contractions, corticomuscular coherence (CMC) is thought to reflect a mutual interaction between cortical and muscle oscillatory activities, respectively measured by electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG). However, it remains unclear whether CMC modulation would depend on the contribution of neural mechanisms acting at the spinal level. To this purpose, modulations of CMC were compared during submaximal isometric, shortening and lengthening contractions of the soleus (SOL) and the medial gastrocnemius (MG) with a concurrent analysis of changes in spinal excitability that may be reduced during lengthening contractions. Submaximal contractions intensity was set at 50% of the maximal SOL EMG activity. CMC was computed in the time–frequency domain between the Cz EEG electrode signal and the unrectified SOL or MG EMG signal. Spinal excitability was quantified through normalized Hoffmann (H) reflex amplitude. The results indicate that beta-band CMC and normalized H-reflex were significantly lower in SOL during lengthening compared with isometric contractions, but were similar in MG for all three muscle contraction types. Collectively, these results highlight an effect of contraction type on beta-band CMC, although it may differ between agonist synergist muscles. These novel findings also provide new evidence that beta-band CMC modulation may involve spinal regulatory mechanisms.

Postactivation Potentiation of Force Is Independent of H-Reflex Excitability

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Hodgson ◽  
David Docherty ◽  
E. Paul Zehr
Keyword(s):  
Isometric Force ◽  
Plantar Flexion ◽  
Force Production ◽  
H Reflex ◽  
Postactivation Potentiation ◽  
Neural Excitability ◽  
Reflex Excitability ◽  
Before And After ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Minor

The contractile history of muscle can potentiate electrically evoked force production. A link to voluntary force production, related in part to an increase in reflex excitability, has been suggested.Purpose:Our purpose was to quantify the effect of postactivation potentiation on voluntary force production and spinal H-reflex excitability during explosive plantar fexion actions.Methods:Plantar flexor twitch torque, soleus H-reflex amplitudes, and the rate of force development of explosive plantar fexion were measured before and after 4 separate conditioning trials (3 × 5 s maximal contractions).Results:Twitch torque and rate of force production during voluntary explosive plantar flexion were significantly increased (P < .05) while H-reflex amplitudes remained unchanged. Although twitch torque was significantly higher after conditioning, leading to a small increase in the rate of voluntary force production, this was unrelated to changes in reflex excitability.Conclusion:We conclude that postactivation potentiation may result in a minor increase in the rate of voluntary isometric force production that is unrelated to neural excitability.

Wipe and flexion reflexes of the frog. II. Response to perturbations

1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 1736-1748 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Schotland ◽  
W. Z. Rymer
Keyword(s):  
External Load ◽  
Hind Limb ◽  
Joint Angle ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Temporal Organization ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Relative Timing ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Movement Segment ◽  
Initial Movement

1. To evaluate the hypothesis that the neural control of sensorimotor transformations may be simplified by using a single control variable, we compared the movement kinematics and muscle activity patterns [electromyograms (EMGs)] of the frog during flexion withdrawal and the hind limb-hind limb wipe reflex before and after adding an external load. In addition, the flexibility of spinal cord circuitry underlying the hind limb-hind limb wipe reflex was evaluated by comparing wipes before and after removal of one of the contributing muscles by cutting a muscle nerve. 2. The kinematics of the movements were recorded using a WATSMART infrared emitter-detector system and quantified using principal-components analysis to provide a measure of the shape (eigenvalues) and orientation (eigenvector coefficients) of the movement trajectories. The neural pattern coordinating the movements was characterized by the latencies and magnitudes of EMGs of seven muscles acting at the hip, knee, and ankle. These variables were compared 1) during flexion withdrawal and the initial movement segment of the limb during the hind limb-hind limb wipe reflex in both unrestrained movements and in movements executed when a load equal to approximately 10% of the animal's body weight was attached to a distal limb segment and 2) during the initial movement segment of the wipe reflex before and after cutting the nerve to the knee flexor-hip extensor, iliofibularis. 3. Addition of the load had no discernible effect on the end-point position of the foot during either reflex. However, during the loaded flexion reflex, the ankle joint did not move until after the hip and knee joints had moved to their normal positions. This delayed flexion of the ankle was accompanied by large increases in the magnitude of EMG activity in two ankle muscles that exceeded the levels found during unrestrained movements. Significant changes in the temporal organization of the EMG pattern accompanied the change in joint angle relations during flexion withdrawal. 4. Despite the addition of an external load, all animals successfully and reliably removed the stimulus during the wipe reflex, and the relative timing of both the EMG pattern and joint angle motion was preserved. 5. Immediately after section of the nerve to a single muscle (iliofibularis), all animals successfully and reliably removed the stimulus during the wipe reflex. The relative timing of muscle activation was preserved, accompanied by a reduction in the activity level of gluteus magnus, a muscle with action reciprocal to iliofibularis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Spinal Reflexes in Ankle Flexor and Extensor Muscles After Chronic Central Nervous System Lesions and Functional Electrical Stimulation

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiko K. Thompson ◽  
Kristen L. Estabrooks ◽  
SuLing Chong ◽  
Richard B. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Reciprocal Inhibition ◽  
Spinal Reflexes ◽  
Foot Drop ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Muscle Nerve ◽  
Voluntary Contractions ◽  
Cns Lesions

Objective. Spinal reciprocal inhibitory and excitatory reflexes of ankle extensor and flexor muscles were investigated in ambulatory participants with chronic central nervous system (CNS) lesions causing foot drop as a function of time after lesion and stimulator use. Methods. Thirty-nine participants with progressive (eg, secondary progressive MS) and 36 with generally nonprogressive (eg, stroke) conditions were studied. The tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus maximum H-reflex/M-wave (Hmax/Mmax) ratios and maximum voluntary contractions (MVC) were measured and compared with those in age-matched control participants. Reciprocal inhibition was measured as a depression of the ongoing electromyographic (EMG) activity produced by antagonist muscle—nerve stimulation. Results. Participants with CNS lesions had significantly higher soleus Hmax/Mmax ratios than control participants, and reduced voluntary modulation of the reflexes occurred in both muscles. Reciprocal inhibition of soleus from common peroneal (CP) nerve stimulation was not significantly different from controls in either group. Inhibition of the TA by tibial nerve stimulation decreased and was eventually replaced by excitation in participants with nonprogressive disorders. No significant change occurred in progressive disorders. Use of a foot drop stimulator increased the TA, but not the soleus MVC overall. H-reflexes only showed small changes. Reciprocal inhibition of the TA increased considerably, while that of the soleus muscle decreased toward control values. Conclusions. Disorders that produce foot drop also produce reflex changes, some of which only develop over a period of years or even decades. Regular use of a foot drop stimulator strengthens voluntary pathways and changes some reflexes toward control values. Thus, stimulators may provide multiple benefits to people with foot drop.

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