Abdominal muscle use during quiet breathing and hyperpnea in uninformed subjects

1982 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 700-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. H. Loring ◽  
J. Mead
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Contraction ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Quiet Breathing ◽  
Rib Cage ◽  
Relaxation Characteristics

Although there is electromyographic evidence for abdominal muscle activity during quiet breathing in standing subjects, several studies have shown, or assumed, that subjects normally breathe on their relaxation characteristics. This latter observation would by itself suggest that abdominal muscles do not contract during quiet breathing. To test this assumption we observed abdominal and rib cage displacements with magnetometers in 17 uninformed subjects. During quiet breathing most subjects showed evidence of tonic or phasic abdominal muscle contraction while standing and sitting but not supine. Subjects studied during hyperpnea immediately following exercise-showed evidence of greater abdominal muscle contraction than at rest. We conclude that most subjects standing at rest normally contract their abdominal muscles.

Human respiratory muscle actions and control during exercise

1997 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 1256-1269 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Aliverti ◽  
S. J. Cala ◽  
R. Duranti ◽  
G. Ferrigno ◽  
C. M. Kenyon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Volume ◽  
Respiratory Muscle ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Abdominal Pressure ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Quiet Breathing ◽  
Rib Cage ◽  
Velocity Of Shortening ◽  
And Control ◽  
Muscle Actions

Aliverti, A., S. J. Cala, R. Duranti, G. Ferrigno, C. M. Kenyon, A. Pedotti, G. Scano, P. Sliwinski, Peter T. Macklem, and S. Yan. Human respiratory muscle actions and control during exercise. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(4): 1256–1269, 1997.—We measured pressures and power of diaphragm, rib cage, and abdominal muscles during quiet breathing (QB) and exercise at 0, 30, 50, and 70% maximum workload (W˙max) in five men. By three-dimensional tracking of 86 chest wall markers, we calculated the volumes of lung- and diaphragm-apposed rib cage compartments (Vrc,p and Vrc,a, respectively) and the abdomen (Vab). End-inspiratory lung volume increased with percentage of W˙max as a result of an increase in Vrc,p and Vrc,a. End-expiratory lung volume decreased as a result of a decrease in Vab. ΔVrc,a/ΔVab was constant and independent ofW˙max. Thus we used ΔVab/time as an index of diaphragm velocity of shortening. From QB to 70%W˙max, diaphragmatic pressure (Pdi) increased ∼2-fold, diaphragm velocity of shortening 6.5-fold, and diaphragm workload 13-fold. Abdominal muscle pressure was ∼0 during QB but was equal to and 180° out of phase with rib cage muscle pressure at all percent W˙max. Rib cage muscle pressure and abdominal muscle pressure were greater than Pdi, but the ratios of these pressures were constant. There was a gradual inspiratory relaxation of abdominal muscles, causing abdominal pressure to fall, which minimized Pdi and decreased the expiratory action of the abdominal muscles on Vrc,a gradually, minimizing rib cage distortions. We conclude that from QB to 0% W˙max there is a switch in respiratory muscle control, with immediate recruitment of rib cage and abdominal muscles. Thereafter, a simple mechanism that increases drive equally to all three muscle groups, with drive to abdominal and rib cage muscles 180° out of phase, allows the diaphragm to contract quasi-isotonically and act as a flow generator, while rib cage and abdominal muscles develop the pressures to displace the rib cage and abdomen, respectively. This acts to equalize the pressures acting on both rib cage compartments, minimizing rib cage distortion .

Influence of central chemoreceptor afferent inputs on respiratory muscle activity

1985 ◽  
Vol 249 (2) ◽  
pp. R266-R273 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Haxhiu ◽  
J. Mitra ◽  
E. van Lunteren ◽  
N. R. Prabhakar ◽  
N. S. Cherniack
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Activity ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Pharmacological Interventions ◽  
Rib Cage ◽  
Putative Site ◽  
Respiratory Stimulant ◽  
Respiratory Muscle Activity

Respiratory activity can be substantially affected by perturbations confined to the superficial areas of the ventrolateral surface of the medulla, the putative site of central chemoreceptors. In this study we compared the effect of thermal and pharmacological interventions that are known to alter respiration on the electrical activity of the rib cage muscles, diaphragm, and abdominal muscles. With cooling of the intermediate areas to 20 degrees C, tidal volume decreased 50%. The electrical activity of the diaphragm decreased less than the other muscles (diaphragm less than inspiratory intercostal less than expiratory intercostal). Abdominal muscle activity was depressed as much as expiratory intercostal activity but reappeared with further cooling to 10 degrees C if cooling was prolonged and the vagi were intact. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and its agonist muscimol, like cooling, reduced expiratory and inspiratory intercostal activity more than diaphragm activity. Nicotine, a respiratory stimulant, applied to the intermediate areas increased inspiratory intercostal activity more than the diaphragm. The results suggest that under the conditions of the experiments the rib cage musculature, and probably the abdominal muscles as well, are more responsive than the diaphragm to depression or excitation of chemosensitive elements in the superficial regions of the medulla.

Chest wall motion during epidural anesthesia in dogs

1991 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. O. Warner ◽  
J. F. Brichant ◽  
E. L. Ritman ◽  
K. Rehder
Keyword(s):  
Chest Wall ◽  
Epidural Anesthesia ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Tidal Breathing ◽  
Quiet Breathing ◽  
Rib Cage ◽  
Expiratory Muscle ◽  
Anesthetized Dogs

To determine the relative contribution of rib cage and abdominal muscles to expiratory muscle activity during quiet breathing, we used lumbar epidural anesthesia in six pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized dogs lying supine to paralyze the abdominal muscles while leaving rib cage muscle motor function substantially intact. A high-speed X-ray scanner (Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor) provided three-dimensional images of the thorax. The contribution of expiratory muscle activity to tidal breathing was assessed by a comparison of chest wall configuration during relaxed apnea with that at end expiration. We found that expiratory muscle activity was responsible for approximately half of the changes in thoracic volume during inspiration. Paralysis of the abdominal muscles had little effect on the pattern of breathing, including the contribution of expiratory muscle activity to tidal breathing, in most dogs. We conclude that, although there is consistent phasic expiratory electrical activity in both the rib cage and the abdominal muscles of pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs lying supine, the muscles of the rib cage are mechanically the most important expiratory muscles during quiet breathing.

Triangularis sterni muscle use in supine humans

1987 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 919-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. De Troyer ◽  
V. Ninane ◽  
J. J. Gilmartin ◽  
C. Lemerre ◽  
M. Estenne
Keyword(s):  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Trained Subjects ◽  
Rib Cage ◽  
Residual Capacity ◽  
External Oblique ◽  
Head Flexion ◽  
Static Head

The electrical activity of the triangularis sterni (transversus thoracis) muscle was studied in supine humans during resting breathing and a variety of respiratory and nonrespiratory maneuvers known to bring the abdominal muscles into action. Twelve normal subjects, of whom seven were uninformed and untrained, were investigated. The electromyogram of the triangularis sterni was recorded using a concentric needle electrode, and it was compared with the electromyograms of the abdominal (external oblique and rectus abdominis) muscles. The triangularis sterni was usually silent during resting breathing. In contrast, the muscle was invariably activated during expiration from functional residual capacity, expulsive maneuvers, “belly-in” isovolume maneuvers, static head flexion and trunk rotation, and spontaneous events such as speech, coughing, and laughter. When three trained subjects expired voluntarily with considerable recruitment of the triangularis sterni and no abdominal muscle activity, rib cage volume decreased and abdominal volume increased. These results indicate that unlike in the dog, spontaneous quiet expiration in supine humans is essentially a passive process; the human triangularis sterni, however, is a primary muscle of expiration; and its neural activation is largely coupled with that of the abdominals. The triangularis sterni probably contributes to the deflation of the rib cage during active expiration.

Expiratory muscle activity in the awake and sleeping human during lung inflation and hypercapnia

1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 881-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Wakai ◽  
M. M. Welsh ◽  
A. M. Leevers ◽  
J. D. Road
Keyword(s):  
Lung Volume ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Ventilatory Threshold ◽  
Minute Ventilation ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Transversus Abdominis ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Lung Inflation ◽  
Expiratory Muscle ◽  
Intramuscular Electrodes

Expiratory muscle activity has been shown to occur in awake humans during lung inflation; however, whether this activity is dependent on consciousness is unclear. Therefore we measured abdominal muscle electromyograms (intramuscular electrodes) in 13 subjects studied in the supine position during wakefulness and non-rapid-eye-movement sleep. Lung inflation was produced by nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). CPAP at 10–15 cmH2O produced phasic expiratory activity in two subjects during wakefulness but produced no activity in any subject during sleep. During sleep, CPAP to 15 cmH2O increased lung volume by 1,260 +/- 215 (SE) ml, but there was no change in minute ventilation. The ventilatory threshold at which phasic abdominal muscle activity was first recorded during hypercapnia was 10.3 +/- 1.1 l/min while awake and 13.8 +/- 1 l/min while asleep (P less than 0.05). Higher lung volumes reduced the threshold for abdominal muscle recruitment during hypercapnia. We conclude that lung inflation alone over the range that we studied does not alter ventilation or produce recruitment of the abdominal muscles in sleeping humans. The internal oblique and transversus abdominis are activated at a lower ventilatory threshold during hypercapnia, and this activation is influenced by state and lung volume.

Effects of postural changes and vestibular lesions on diaphragm and rectus abdominis activity in awake cats

2001 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Cotter ◽  
H. E. Arendt ◽  
J. G. Jasko ◽  
C. Sprando ◽  
S. P. Cass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vestibular System ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Rectus Abdominis ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Body Rotation ◽  
Postural Changes ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Awake Cats

Changes in posture can affect the resting length of the diaphragm, requiring alterations in the activity of both the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm to maintain stable ventilation. To determine the role of the vestibular system in regulating respiratory muscle discharges during postural changes, spontaneous diaphragm and rectus abdominis activity and modulation of the firing of these muscles during nose-up and ear-down tilt were compared before and after removal of labyrinthine inputs in awake cats. In vestibular-intact animals, nose-up and ear-down tilts from the prone position altered rectus abdominis firing, whereas the effects of body rotation on diaphragm activity were not statistically significant. After peripheral vestibular lesions, spontaneous diaphragm and rectus abdominis discharges increased significantly (by ∼170%), and augmentation of rectus abdominis activity during nose-up body rotation was diminished. However, spontaneous muscle activity and responses to tilt began to recover after a few days after the lesions, presumably because of plasticity in the central vestibular system. These data suggest that the vestibular system provides tonic inhibitory influences on rectus abdominis and the diaphragm and in addition contributes to eliciting increases in abdominal muscle activity during some changes in body orientation.

Chest Wall Responses to Rebreathing in Halothane-anesthetized Dogs

1995 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-843. ◽  
Author(s):  
David O. Warner ◽  
Michael J. Joyner ◽  
Erik L. Ritman
Keyword(s):  
Chest Wall ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Respiratory Muscle ◽  
Species Differences ◽  
Minimum Alveolar Concentration ◽  
Electromyographic Activity ◽  
Quiet Breathing ◽  
Rib Cage ◽  
Expiratory Muscle ◽  
Anesthetized Dogs

Background The pattern of respiratory muscle use during halothane-induced anesthesia differs markedly among species breathing quietly. In humans, halothane accentuates phasic activity in rib cage and abdominal expiratory muscles, whereas activity in the parasternal intercostal muscles is abolished. In contrast, halothane abolishes phasic expiratory muscle activity during quiet breathing in dogs, but parasternal muscle activity is maintained. Respiratory muscle responses to CO2 rebreathing were measured in halothane-anesthetized dogs to determine if species differences present during quiet breathing persist over a wide range of central respiratory drive. Methods Chronic electromyogram electrodes were implanted in three expiratory agonists (the triangularis sterni, transversus abdominis, and external oblique muscles) and three inspiratory agonists (the parasternal intercostal muscle, costal and crural diaphragm) of six mongrel dogs. After a 1-month recovery period, the dogs were anesthetized in the supine position with halothane. The rebreathing response was determined by Read's method during anesthesia with stable 1 and 2 minimum alveolar end-tidal concentrations of halothane. CO2 concentrations were measured in the rebreathing bag using an infrared analyzer. Chest wall motion was measured by fast three-dimensional computed tomographic scanning. Results Halothane concentration did not significantly affect the slope of the relationship between minute ventilation (VE) and PCO2 (0.34 +/- 0.04 [M +/- SE] and 0.28 +/- 0.05 l.min-1.mmHg-1 during 1 and 2 minimum alveolar concentration anesthesia, respectively). However, 2 minimum alveolar concentration anesthesia did significantly decrease the calculated VE at a PCO2 of 60 mmHg (from 7.4 +/- 1.2 to 4.0 +/- 0.6 l.min-1), indicating a rightward shift in the response relationship. No electromyographic activity was observed in any expiratory muscle before rebreathing. Rebreathing produced electromyographic activity in at least one expiratory muscle in only two dogs. Rebreathing significantly increased electromyographic activity in all inspiratory agonists. Rebreathing significantly increased inspiratory thoracic volume change (delta Vth), with percentage of delta Vth attributed to outward rib cage displacement increasing over the course of rebreathing during 1 minimum alveolar concentration anesthesia (from 33 +/- 6% to 48 +/- 2% of delta Vth). Conclusions Rebreathing did not produce expiratory muscle activation in most dogs, demonstrating that the suppression of expiratory muscle activity observed at rest persists at high levels of ventilatory drive. Other features of the rebreathing response also differed significantly from previous reports in halothane-anesthetized humans, including (1) an increase in the rib cage contribution to tidal volume during the course of rebreathing, (2) recruitment of parasternal intercostal activity by rebreathing, (3) differences in the response of ventilatory timing, and (4) the lack of effect of anesthetic depth on the slope of the ventilatory response. These marked species differences are further evidence that the dog is not a suitable model to study anesthetic effects on the activation of human respiratory muscles.

Electromyographic Evaluation of Abdominal-Muscle Function With and Without Concomitant Pelvic-Floor-Muscle Contraction

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahid Tahan ◽  
Amir Massoud Arab ◽  
Bita Vaseghi ◽  
Khosro Khademi
Keyword(s):  
Pelvic Floor ◽  
Muscle Contraction ◽  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Pelvic Floor Muscle ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Repeated Measures Design ◽  
Emg Signal

Context:Coactivation of abdominal and pelvic-floor muscles (PFM) is an issue considered by researchers recently. Electromyography (EMG) studies have shown that the abdominal-muscle activity is a normal response to PFM activity, and increase in EMG activity of the PFM concomitant with abdominal-muscle contraction was also reported.Objective:The purpose of this study was to compare the changes in EMG activity of the deep abdominal muscles during abdominal-muscle contraction (abdominal hollowing and bracing) with and without concomitant PFM contraction in healthy and low-back-pain (LBP) subjects.Design:A 2 × 2 repeated-measures design.Setting:Laboratory.Participants:30 subjects (15 with LBP, 15 without LBP).Main Outcome Measures:Peak rectified EMG of abdominal muscles.Results:No difference in EMG of abdominal muscles with and without concomitant PFM contraction in abdominal hollowing (P = .84) and abdominal bracing (P = .53). No difference in EMG signal of abdominal muscles with and without PFM contraction between LBP and healthy subjects in both abdominal hollowing (P = .88) and abdominal bracing (P = .98) maneuvers.Conclusion:Adding PFM contraction had no significant effect on abdominal-muscle contraction in subjects with and without LBP.

Control of abdominal and expiratory intercostal muscle activity during vomiting: role of ventral respiratory group expiratory neurons

1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1854-1866 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Miller ◽  
L. K. Tan ◽  
I. Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
Ventral Respiratory Group ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The One ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

The role of ventral respiratory group (VRG) expiratory (E) neurons in the control of abdominal and internal intercostal (expiratory) muscle activity during vomiting was examined in decerebrate cats by recording from these neurons during fictive vomiting in paralyzed animals and comparing abdominal muscle activity during vomiting before and after sectioning the axons of these descending neurons. Fictive vomiting was defined by a series of bursts of coactivation of abdominal and phrenic nerves elicited by either subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve stimulation or emetic drugs. Such coordinated activity would be expected to produce vomiting if the animals were not paralyzed. Data were recorded from 27 VRG E neurons that were antidromically activated from the lower thoracic (T13) or lumbar spinal cord. During fictive vomiting, almost two-thirds of these neurons (17/27) were mainly active in between periods of abdominal and phrenic nerve coactivation, when the internal intercostal motoneurons are known to be active. This group of neurons was termed INT neurons. INT neurons were subdivided according to whether they were active between every burst of phrenic and abdominal nerve coactivation (INTa neurons, n = 10) or only between some bursts (INTb neurons, n = 7). Another one-third of the VRG E neurons had normal or increased levels of activity when the abdominal nerves were active during fictive vomiting (ABD neurons). The one remaining neuron was mainly silent throughout fictive vomiting. ABD neurons were indistinguishable from INT neurons on the basis of their location in the VRG, type of firing pattern (ramp versus step ramp), conduction velocity, or extent of projection in the lumbar cord. However, INTa neurons had a significantly higher discharge rate during respiration than either ABD or INTb neurons. Abdominal muscle EMG and nerve activity were recorded from six unparalyzed cats before and after cutting the axons of VRG E neurons as they cross the midline between C1 and the obex. The lesions abolished or almost eliminated expiratory modulation of abdominal muscle activity. In contrast, the abdominal muscles were always active during vomiting; however, the amplitude of postlesion abdominal activity varied from approximately 70-100% of prelesion values in three cats to 60-70% of normal in a fourth animal to only approximately 20% of prelesion values in two other cats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Posture effects on timing of abdominal muscle activity during stimulated ventilation

1999 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 1994-2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadashi Abe ◽  
Takumi Yamada ◽  
Tomoyuki Tomita ◽  
Paul A. Easton
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
Abdominal Muscle ◽  
Transversus Abdominis ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Abdominal Muscles ◽  
External Oblique ◽  
End Tidal ◽  
Internal Oblique

In humans during stimulated ventilation, substantial abdominal muscle activity extends into the following inspiration as postexpiratory expiratory activity (PEEA) and commences again during late inspiration as preexpiratory expiratory activity (PREA). We hypothesized that the timing of PEEA and PREA would be changed systematically by posture. Fine-wire electrodes were inserted into the rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis in nine awake subjects. Airflow, end-tidal CO2, and moving average electromyogram (EMG) signals were recorded during resting and CO2-stimulated ventilation in both supine and standing postures. Phasic expiratory EMG activity (tidal EMG) of the four abdominal muscles at any level of CO2 stimulation was greater while standing. Abdominal muscle activities during inspiration, PEEA, and PREA, were observed with CO2stimulation, both supine and standing. Change in posture had a significant effect on intrabreath timing of expiratory muscle activation at any level of CO2stimulation. The transversus abdominis showed a significant increase in PEEA and a significant decrease in PREA while subjects were standing; similar changes were seen in the internal oblique. We conclude that changes in posture are associated with significant changes in phasic expiratory activity of the four abdominal muscles, with systematic changes in the timing of abdominal muscle activity during early and late inspiration.

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