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Somatic Spinal Reflexes

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...

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A Method for Quantification of Stretch Reflex Excitability During Ballistic Reaching.

Thomas A M Plaisier, Ana Maria Acosta, Julius P A Dewald

IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering : a Publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

|June 7, 2023

Summary

Researchers developed a new method to measure stretch reflex excitability during reaching movements. This technique reveals how neurological injuries like stroke affect motor control and reflex responses.

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Isokinetic Robotic Device to Improve Test-Retest and Inter-Rater Reliability for Stretch Reflex Measurements in Stroke Patients with Spasticity

Isokinetic Robotic Device to Improve Test-Retest and Inter-Rater Reliability for Stretch Reflex Measurements in Stroke Patients with Spasticity

Published on: June 12, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Rehabilitation Science

Background:

Stretch reflexes are vital for movement accuracy and stability, modulated by brain pathways.
Directly observing supraspinal modulation of reflexes is challenging.
Characterizing reflex excitability during voluntary movement offers insights into motor control and neurological injury impacts, such as spasticity post-stroke.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate a novel protocol for quantifying stretch reflex excitability during ballistic reaching movements.
To investigate the modulation of stretch reflexes in individuals with chronic hemiparetic stroke compared to controls.

Main Methods:

A custom haptic device (NACT-3D) was used to apply high-velocity (270°/s) elbow extension perturbations during 3D reaching tasks.
The protocol involved applying perturbations before, during early movement, or near peak velocity in random trials.
Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded from upper limb muscles in four chronic stroke participants and two controls.

Main Results:

Stretch reflexes, indicated by EMG activity, were observed in the biceps muscle during both pre-motion and early motion phases in the stroke group.
Reflexive EMG was also detected in the anterior deltoid and pectoralis major during the pre-motion phase in stroke participants.
No significant reflexive EMG was observed in the control group, as anticipated.

Conclusions:

The developed methodology successfully quantifies stretch reflex excitability during complex, volitional movements.
This novel approach enables new investigations into stretch reflex modulation, particularly in the context of neurological conditions like stroke.
The findings highlight the potential of this method for understanding motor control deficits and informing rehabilitation strategies.