Stretch reflexes in human abdominal muscles

2004 ◽  
Vol 159 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. D. Beith ◽  
P. J. Harrison
1990 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Miller ◽  
S. Nonaka

The possible contribution of spinal reflexes to abdominal muscle activation during vomiting was assessed in decerebrate cats. The activity of these muscles is partly controlled by bulbospinal expiratory neurons in the caudal ventral respiratory group (VRG). In a previous study it was found that the abdominal muscles are still active during vomiting after midsagittal lesion of the axons of these neurons between C1 and the obex (A.D. Miller, L.K. Tan, and I. Suzuki. J. Neurophysiol. 57: 1854-1866, 1987). The present experiments indicate that this postlesion activity was due to spinal stretch reflexes because 1) such midsagittal lesions eliminate abdominal muscle nerve activity during fictive vomiting in paralyzed cats in which there are no abdominal stretch reflexes, 2) the abdominal muscles are activated during vomiting by spinal reflexes after upper thoracic cord transections, and 3) the normal 100-ms delay between diaphragmatic and abdominal activation during vomiting is reduced to approximately 20-25 ms after both types of lesions, which is consistent with postlesion abdominal reflex activation. Our results also suggest that, during normal vomiting, abdominal stretch and tension reflexes have only a minor role if any and abdominal muscle activation is probably mediated primarily or exclusively by expiratory neurons in the caudal ventral respiratory group. However, our finding that phrenic activity is reduced both during vomiting after thoracic transections and during fictive vomiting after paralysis is consistent with a contribution of reflex activity from abdominal and/or intercostal muscles to phrenic discharge during normal vomiting.


Author(s):  
Martin A. Levin ◽  
Lisa L. Cale ◽  
Valerie Lynch-Holm

Orchestia is a genus of amphipod in the crustacean class Malacostraca. The order Amphipoda contains over 6000 species commonly called side swimmers, scuds and beach fleas(1). Most are marine bottom-dwellers utilizing their thoracic legs and posterior abdominal uropods for walking, crawling and swimming. However, some, like those in the genera Orchestia and Hyale are semiterrestrial. These amphipods, commonly referred to as “beach fleas,' “beach hoppers” or “sand fleas” can hop vigorously for great distances (up to 50 times their length) by extending their abdomens and telsons against the sand(2).In our study, the ultrastructure of the dorsal muscle cord of Orchestia grillus was examined. Vogel(3) described the abdominal muscles of Orchestia cavimana as consisting of two groups of muscles: a strong, complex, dorsal muscle cord used mainly for hopping and a group of weaker, ventral, longitudinal and oblique muscles.The specimens were collected in clumps of decaying seaweed and other detritus from the intertidal zone near the high water mark at Avery Point Beach, Connecticut.


2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-152
Author(s):  
Aly El-Deen A Basset ◽  
Hassan A Mohamed ◽  
Ahmed M EA Omar ◽  
Enas E A Ahmed

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Iria Da Cuña-Carrera ◽  
Alejandra Alonso-Calvete ◽  
Yoana González-González ◽  
Mercedes Soto-González

BACKGROUND: The underlying morphology and behavior of abdominal muscles during breathing are still lacking in knowledge in healthy population. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effects of three different types of breathing on the architectural characteristics of abdominal muscles. METHODS: Ninety-eight healthy subjects were measured to assess the effects of breathing on the abdominal muscles, subjects performed three different types of breathing and the muscular thickness was measured with ultrasound imaging, analyzing also the differences between sexes. RESULTS: During the three different types of breathing and in comparison with the resting state, an increase of the thickness has been reported in the transversus abdominis (p< 0.001; effect size = 2.44, very large) and internal oblique (p< 0.001; effect size = 1.04, moderate) in both sexes, but with a higher increase in men. External oblique and rectus abdominis increased their thickness through breathing only while the lips were with pursed (p< 0.05) with trivial effect sizes and only differences between sexes were found in rectus abdominis. CONCLUSIONS: All breathings activated the deepest abdominal muscles, but the most superficial were only activated with lips pursed. Moreover, men appeared to activate more the deepest abdominal muscles but also the rectus abdominis. Findings in this study support the use of different types of breathing depending on the muscle to be activated or the sex, helping health care professionals to address their interventions on the abdominal muscles with a more focused approach.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael DeLong ◽  
Mauricio Gil-Silva ◽  
Veronica Minsu Hong ◽  
Olivia Babyok ◽  
Benedict J. Kolber

Abstract Background The regulation and control of pressure stimuli is useful for many studies of pain and nociception especially those in the visceral pain field. In many in vivo experiments, distinct air and liquid stimuli at varying pressures are delivered to hollow organs such as the bladder, vagina, and colon. These stimuli are coupled with behavioral, molecular, or physiological read-outs of the response to the stimulus. Care must be taken to deliver precise timed stimuli during experimentation. For example, stimuli signals can be used online to precisely time-lock the stimulus with a physiological output. Such precision requires the development of specialized hardware to control the stimulus (e.g., air) while providing a precise read-out of pressure and stimulus signal markers. Methods In this study, we designed a timed pressure regulator [termed visceral pressure stimulator (VPS)] to control air flow, measure pressure (in mmHg), and send stimuli markers to online software. The device was built using a simple circuit and primarily off-the-shelf parts. A separate custom inline analog-to-digital pressure converter was used to validate the real pressure output of the VPS. Results Using commercial physiological software (Spike2, CED), we were able to measure mouse bladder pressure continuously during delivery of unique air stimulus trials in a mouse while simultaneously recording an electromyogram (EMG) of the overlying abdominal muscles. Conclusions This device will be useful for those who need to (1) deliver distinct pressure stimuli while (2) measuring the pressure in real-time and (3) monitoring stimulus on–off using physiological software.


Author(s):  
Sang-Yeol Lee ◽  
Se-Yeon Park

BACKGROUND: Recent clinical studies have revealed the advantages of using suspension devices. Although the supine, lateral, and forward leaning bridge exercises are low-intensity exercises with suspension devices, there is a lack of studies directly comparing exercise progression by measuring muscular activity and subjective difficulty. OBJECTIVE: To identify how the variations in the bridge exercise affects trunk muscle activity, the present study investigated changes in neuromuscular activation during low-intensity bridge exercises. We furthermore explored whether the height of the suspension point affects muscle activation and subjective difficulty. METHODS: Nineteen asymptomatic male participants were included. Three bridge exercise positions, supine bridge (SB), lateral bridge (LB), forward leaning (FL), and two exercise angles (15 and 30 degrees) were administered, thereby comparing six bridge exercise conditions with suspension devices. Surface electromyography and subjective difficulty data were collected. RESULTS: The rectus abdominis activity was significantly higher with the LB and FL exercises compared with the SB exercise (p< 0.05). The erector spinae muscle activity was significantly higher with the SB and LB exercises, compared with the FL exercise (p< 0.05). The LB exercise significantly increased the internal oblique muscle activity, compared with other exercise variations (p< 0.05). The inclination angle of the exercise only affected the internal oblique muscle and subjective difficulty, which were significantly higher at 30 degrees compared with 15 degrees (p< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Relatively higher inclination angle was not effective in overall activation of the trunk muscles; however, different bridge-type exercises could selectively activate the trunk muscles. The LB and SB exercises could be good options for stimulating the internal oblique abdominis, and the erector spinae muscle, while the FL exercise could minimize the erector spinae activity and activate the abdominal muscles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Weiler ◽  
Paul L. Gribble ◽  
J. Andrew Pruszynski

1985 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 1489-1495 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Farber

The suckling opossum exhibits an expiration-phased discharge in abdominal muscles during positive-pressure breathing (PPB); the response becomes apparent, however, only after the 3rd-5th wk of postnatal life. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the early lack of activation represented a deficiency of segmental outflow to abdominal muscles or whether comparable effects were observed in cranial outflows to muscles of the upper airways due to immaturity of afferent and/or supraspinal pathways. Anesthetized suckling opossums between 15 and 50 days of age were exposed to PPB; electromyogram (EMG) responses in diaphragm and abdominal muscles were measured, along with EMG of larynx dilator muscles and/or upper airway resistance. In animals older than approximately 30 days of age, the onset of PPB was associated with a prolonged expiration-phased EMG activation of larynx dilator muscles and/or decreased upper airway resistance, along with expiratory recruitment of the abdominal muscle EMG. These effects persisted as long as the load was maintained. Younger animals showed only those responses related to the upper airway; in fact, activation of upper airway muscles during PPB could be associated with suppression of the abdominal motor outflow. After unilateral vagotomy, abdominal and upper airway motor responses to PPB were reduced. The balance between PPB-induced excitatory and inhibitory or disfacilitory influences from the supraspinal level on abdominal motoneurons and/or spinal processing of information from higher centers may shift toward net excitation as the opossum matures.


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