Co-activity of the trapezius and upper arm muscles with finger tapping at different rates and trunk postures

In the context of finding a model that describes the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to muscle pain at low-intensity repetitive work, in this study we investigated whether a simplified finger motor task that requires little mental demand can cause increased muscle activity in the upper arms and neck, and examined the impact of the variation of two parameters, finger tapping rate and body posture. Using the 5th and 95th percentiles from the surface electromyogram of six muscles of the fingers, upper arm and neck, we determined the static and dynamic components of the muscle activity. Correlation methods were used to find a component in the muscle activity that originated from the rhythm of the finger tapping. Further investigations included tapping steadiness and finger force. It was found that in many, but not all subjects, low or even high activity was constantly present in the upper arm and trapezius muscles, sometimes even during relaxation. Fast tapping and a forward-leaning body posture caused considerable increases, while a slightly reclined posture helped to reduce co-activity. However, motor control patterns varied strongly between individuals. Since certain subjects showed no co-activity at all we can assume that trapezius and upper-arm activation is not necessarily required for the completion of a task similar to ours. This may explain why some VDU users develop work-related musculoskeletal disorders while others remain healthy.