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Related Concept Videos

Muscle Stimulation Frequency01:22

Muscle Stimulation Frequency

The contraction strength of muscles is regulated by motor neurons, which modulate the frequency of action potentials dispatched to the motor units based on the body's requirements. This process of varying the muscle stimulation frequency allows muscles to contract with a force that is precisely tailored to the needs of the moment, whether lifting a feather or a heavy box.
Wave summation
At low firing rates, motor neurons induce individual twitch contractions in muscle fibers. These twitches...
Reflex Activity01:08

Reflex Activity

A reflex activity is an automatic, involuntary response to specific stimuli. It is a part of our survival mechanism, designed to protect us from potential harm. For example, when a bright light suddenly shines into our eyes, we instinctively close them or look away. This is a simple reflex activity orchestrated by the nervous system without conscious thought or effort.
A reflex exam is a diagnostic procedure performed by a healthcare professional to evaluate the functionality of a patient's...
Somatic Spinal Reflexes01:22

Somatic Spinal Reflexes

Somatic spinal reflexes are rapid, involuntary muscular responses to external stimuli that involve the somatic musculature and the spinal cord.
One of the most well-known somatic spinal reflexes is the stretch reflex, which is activated by the sudden stretching of a muscle. This reflex involves the activation of specialized sensory receptors called muscle spindles, which are located in the muscle tissue and detect changes in the length and speed of muscle contractions. When a muscle is suddenly...
Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles01:24

Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles

Every cell in the body maintains a membrane potential due to an uneven distribution of positive and negative charges across its plasma membrane. The membrane potential is measured in millivolts and quantifies the difference in charge across the membrane.
Like neurons, muscle cells are also regarded as excitable due to their capacity to change in response to stimuli, primarily due to voltage-gated ion channels embedded in their plasma membranes, which get activated by alterations in the cell's...
Motor Unit Stimulation01:20

Motor Unit Stimulation

When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...

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The Evoked Potential Operant Conditioning System (EPOCS): A Research Tool and an Emerging Therapy for Chronic Neuromuscular Disorders
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Soleus H-reflex excitability during pedaling post-stroke.

Sheila Schindler-Ivens1, David A Brown, Gwyn N Lewis

  • 1Department of Physical Therapy, Marquette University, P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881, USA. sheila.schindler@marquette.edu

Experimental Brain Research
|April 23, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Enhanced Group Ia afferent transmission in paretic soleus muscles post-stroke does not explain abnormal locomotion. Despite elevated reflexes, this spinal pathway impairment is unlikely to cause the observed issues with muscle phasing during walking.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Rehabilitation Science

Background:

  • Abnormal muscle activity phasing is a key factor in impaired post-stroke locomotion.
  • The underlying mechanisms, particularly the role of reflexes, remain unclear.
  • Group Ia reflexes are often elevated and fail to modulate during locomotion in paretic limbs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that enhanced transmission in the monosynaptic Group Ia afferent pathway contributes to abnormal muscle phasing during locomotion post-stroke.
  • To examine soleus (SO) H-reflexes during pedaling to assess Group Ia afferent pathway transmission to SO motor neurons.

Main Methods:

  • Soleus (SO) H-reflexes were measured in paretic (n=13) and neurologically intact (NI, n=26) individuals during pedaling at 11 cycle positions and during tonic plantar flexion.
  • H-reflexes were compared between pedaling and tonic conditions, controlling for background SO electromyography (EMG).
  • H-reflex modulation across the pedaling cycle and its correlation with Fugl-Meyer scores were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • SO H-reflexes were smaller during pedaling than tonic plantar flexion in both groups.
  • NI individuals showed significant H-reflex modulation across the pedaling cycle (large during extension, small during flexion).
  • Paretic individuals exhibited reduced H-reflex modulation, but still showed suppression during flexion; however, H-reflexes were larger in paretic vs. NI individuals overall, irrespective of phase.

Conclusions:

  • Group Ia afferent transmission to the soleus motor neuron pool is enhanced in individuals post-stroke compared to neurologically intact individuals.
  • Contrary to the hypothesis, this enhanced transmission is not specifically linked to abnormal muscle activity during the flexion phase of pedaling.
  • Enhanced monosynaptic Group Ia spinal pathway transmission is unlikely to be the primary cause of abnormal locomotor muscle phasing post-stroke.