Reflex Responses in Upper Limb Muscles to Cutaneous Stimuli

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. 271-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Stimulus Intensity ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Voluntary Contraction ◽  
Cutaneous Reflexes ◽  
Focal Lesions ◽  
Normal Ranges ◽  
Conduction Velocities ◽  
Limb Muscles ◽  
Biphasic Responses

ABSTRACT:Cutaneous reflexes in the upper limb were elicited by stimulating digital nerves and recorded by averaging rectified EMG from proximal and distal upper limb muscles during voluntary contraction. Distal muscles often showed a triphasic response: an inhibition with onset about 50 ms (Il) followed by a facilitation with onset about 60 ms (E2) followed by another inhibition with onset about 80 ms (12). Proximal muscles generally showed biphasic responses beginning with facilitation or inhibition with onset at about 40 ms. Normal ranges for the amplitude of these components were established from recordings on 22 arms of 11 healthy subjects. An attempt was made to determine the alterent fibers responsible for the various components by varying the stimulus intensity, by causing ischemic block of larger fibers and by estimating the afferent conduction velocities. The central pathways mediating these reflexes were examined by estimating central delays and by studying patients with focal lesions

62. Effects of leg pedaling on the cutaneous reflexes in the upper limb muscles

2008 ◽  
Vol 119 (6) ◽  
pp. e90
Author(s):  
Syusaku Sasada ◽  
Toshiki Tazoe ◽  
Tsuyoshi Nakajima ◽  
Tomoyoshi Komiyama
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Cutaneous Reflexes ◽  
Limb Muscles

47. Effects of leg pedaling on cutaneous reflexes in the upper limb muscles

2009 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. e157-e158
Author(s):  
Syusaku Sasada ◽  
Toshiki Tazoe ◽  
Tsuyoshi Nakajima ◽  
Tomoyoshi Komiyama
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Cutaneous Reflexes ◽  
Limb Muscles

scholarly journals Spasticity Assessment Based on the Maximum Isometrics Voluntary Contraction of Upper Limb Muscles in Post-stroke Hemiplegia

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Wang ◽  
Pingao Huang ◽  
Xiangxin Li ◽  
Oluwarotimi Williams Samuel ◽  
Yun Xiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Voluntary Contraction ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Limb Muscles

scholarly journals Corticospinal-evoked responses in lower limb muscles during voluntary contractions at varying strengths

2008 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 1527-1532 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Oya ◽  
B. W. Hoffman ◽  
A. G. Cresswell
Keyword(s):  
Evoked Potentials ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Voluntary Contraction ◽  
Medial Gastrocnemius ◽  
Evoked Responses ◽  
Lower Limb Muscles ◽  
Limb Muscles ◽  
Voluntary Contractions

This study investigated corticospinal-evoked responses in lower limb muscles during voluntary contractions at varying strengths. Similar investigations have been made on upper limb muscles, where evoked responses have been shown to increase up to ∼50% of maximal force and then decline. We elicited motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) and cervicomedullary motor-evoked potentials (CMEPs) in the soleus (Sol) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles using magnetic stimulation over the motor cortex and cervicomedullary junction during voluntary plantar flexions with the torque ranging from 0 to 100% of a maximal voluntary contraction. Differences between the MEP and CMEP were also investigated to assess whether any changes were occurring at the cortical or spinal levels. In both Sol and MG, MEP and CMEP amplitudes [normalized to maximal M wave (Mmax)] showed an increase, followed by a plateau, over the greater part of the contraction range with responses increasing from ∼0.2 to ∼6% of Mmax for Sol and from ∼0.3 to ∼10% of Mmax for MG. Because both MEPs and CMEPs changed in a similar manner, the observed increase and lack of decrease at high force levels are likely related to underlying changes occurring at the spinal level. The evoked responses in the Sol and MG increase over a greater range of contraction strengths than for upper limb muscles, probably due to differences in the pattern of motor unit recruitment and rate coding for these muscles and the strength of the corticospinal input.

scholarly journals Effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and voluntary commands on the spinal reflex excitability of remote limb muscles

2019 ◽  
Vol 237 (12) ◽  
pp. 3195-3205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuya Kato ◽  
Atsushi Sasaki ◽  
Hikaru Yokoyama ◽  
Matija Milosevic ◽  
Kimitaka Nakazawa
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Voluntary Contraction ◽  
Spinal Reflex ◽  
Sensory Level ◽  
Reflex Excitability ◽  
Lower Limb Muscles ◽  
Limb Muscles

Abstract It is well known that contracting the upper limbs can affect spinal reflexes of the lower limb muscle, via intraneuronal networks within the central nervous system. However, it remains unknown whether neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), which can generate muscle contractions without central commands from the cortex, can also play a role in such inter-limb facilitation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the effects of unilateral upper limb contractions using NMES and voluntary unilateral upper limb contractions on the inter-limb spinal reflex facilitation in the lower limb muscles. Spinal reflex excitability was assessed using transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) to elicit responses bilaterally in multiple lower limb muscles, including ankle and thigh muscles. Five interventions were applied on the right wrist flexors for 70 s: (1) sensory-level NMES; (2) motor-level NMES; (3) voluntary contraction; (4) voluntary contraction and sensory-level NMES; (5) voluntary contraction and motor-level NMES. Results showed that spinal reflex excitability of ankle muscles was facilitated bilaterally during voluntary contraction of the upper limb unilaterally and that voluntary contraction with motor-level NMES had similar effects as just contracting voluntarily. Meanwhile, motor-level NMES facilitated contralateral thigh muscles, and sensory-level NMES had no effect. Overall, our results suggest that inter-limb facilitation effect of spinal reflex excitability in lower limb muscles depends, to a larger extent, on the presence of the central commands from the cortex during voluntary contractions. However, peripheral input generated by muscle contractions using NMES might have effects on the spinal reflex excitability of inter-limb muscles via spinal intraneuronal networks.

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