Changes in FDB and soleus muscle activity after a train of stimuli during upright stance

Evidence of self-sustained muscle activation following a brief electrical stimulation has been reported in the literature for certain muscles.

This report shows that the foot muscle (Flexor Digitorum Brevis - FDB) shows a self-sustained increase in muscle activity during upright stance in some subjects following a train of stimuli to the tibial nerve.

Healthy subjects were requested to stand upright and surface EMG electrodes were placed on the FDB, Soleus and Tibialis Anterior muscles. After background muscle activity (BGA) acquisition, a 50 Hz train of stimuli was applied to the tibial nerve at the popliteal fossa. The root mean square values (RMS) of the BGA and the post-stimulus muscle activation were computed.

There was a 13.8% average increase in the FDB muscle EMG amplitude with respect to BGA after the stimulation was turned off. The corresponding post-stimulus Soleus EMG activity decreased by an average of 9.2%. We hypothesize that the sustained contraction observed in the FDB following stimulus may be evidence of persistent inward currents (PIC) generated in FDB spinal motoneurons. The post-stimulus decrease in soleus activity may have occurred due to the action of inhibitory interneurons caused by the PICs, which were triggered by the stimulus train.

These sustained post-stimulation changes in postural muscle activity, found in different levels in different subjects, may be part of a set of possible responses that contribute to overall postural control.