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[Effect of the cervical reflex on the posture of normal subjects. Balance measurement study].

The little we know about the existence and the meaning of the cervical component on the vestibulo-spinal reflex, led us to carry out a study on normal subjects examined by computerized stabilometry with the head turned 75 degrees left and right, in order to check the postural alterations during the stimulation of the neck proprioceptors. The results show a significant increase of the values of the LTT, SE and Vm with the head turned to the left; the increases were not significant with the head turned to the right. The difference is difficult to explain. The results show that in man too the posture is affected by reflex of cervical origin.

Adult↗

Increased reflex activation of the peroneus longus following application of an ankle brace declines over time.

Two experiments were performed to document the time-dependent characteristics of the peroneus longus short latency stretch reflex amplitude following application of an ankle brace. In Experiment 1, stretch reflexes were induced in 15 weightbearing subjects during an unbraced condition and braced condition. In Experiment 2, stretch reflexes were induced in 15 weightbearing subjects before and after 3 h of wearing the brace. In Experiment 1. the amplitude of the stretch reflex increased in the braced condition by about 25% relative to the non-braced condition (p = 0.006). In Experiment 2 the amplitude of the stretch reflex increased about 18% immediately after application of the brace relative to the non-braced condition (p = 0.037). After 3 h, the stretch reflex amplitude was not different from that of initial non-braced condition. Given the importance of the peroneus longus muscle in ankle complex stability, further attention should be directed to whether the increased stretch reflex gain can be exploited during rehabilitation from ankle complex injuries. The findings provide a framework by which the effect of ankle braces on ankle joint proprioception, muscle activation profiles and balance may be physiologically interpreted.

Adult↗

Catching a ball: contributions of intrinsic muscle stiffness, reflexes, and higher order responses.

In three sets of experiments in nine normal subjects and a patient with a percutaneous wrist-stabilizing splint, we quantified the open-loop gain (OLG) of the stretch reflex acting about the elbow. The subjects exerted a steady mean flexing force and were instructed not to intervene (i.e., not to resist actively) when force or displacement perturbations were imposed on the forearm. The method was either to reconstruct transmission around the entire loop in a two-part experiment, or to use the attenuation of external perturbations in normal and electrically stimulated muscle to compute gain. Across all experiments, the mean magnitude of stretch reflex OLG was close to unity in the frequency range 1-2 Hz, and declined at higher frequencies, as required to ensure stability, given that the phase lag approached 180 degrees at 5 Hz. Inherent muscle stiffness was approximately equal to reflex stiffness. In functional terms, an OLG of 1 means that the yield caused by a force perturbation is approximately halved by reflex action (prevailing inherent muscle stiffness is doubled). Automatic scaling of reflex transmission at Ia/alpha-motoneuronal synapses ensures that the OLG remains close to unity as inherent stiffness increases. Trials in the patient with the wrist fixator gave similar results, indicating that the reflexes were proprioceptive ly mediated. In a fourth experiment in which the task was to catch a heavy ball, we compared the efficacy of inherent muscle stiffness and reflexes alone, with the subject's intentional reactions, which included predictive and voluntary components of response. The latter were far more effective in maintaining the position of the hand after the ball was caught than inherent and reflex stiffnesses alone. We conclude that stability requirements limit the extent to which stretch reflexes can augment inherent muscle stiffness. When inherent muscle stiffness is low, such as in our ball-catching task, the reflex stiffness is also low, and predictive and pre-programmed reactions predominate in load compensation, thus shifting the emphasis from automatic servo or equilibrium-point behaviour to higher order control.

Elbow Joint↗

Proposed mechanisms for cerebellar coordination, stabilization and monitoring of movements and posture.

In this paper cerebellar mechanisms have been proposed for the coordination of all movements, for the learning effect of training on movements, for the effect of mental set on posture and voluntary movements, for the detection of velocity and acceleration, and for the stabilization of movements and posture. Coordination of agonist, antagonist, fixation and synergistic muscles during a movement could occur via a cerebellar matrix which connects agonist efferent feedback from the Motor Cortex to the appropriate antagonist motor cortical neurons. Improved efficiency through repetition (learning) occurs through suggested changes at the molecular and synaptic levels. The Inferior O-live-Climbing Fibre System is seen as a dynamic oscillator; indicating when a movement begins, its velocity and acceleration, and its stability. According to this view, the cerebellum stabilizes movements, and adds the effect of mental set on posture and voluntary movements, by inducing changes in the gain of stretch reflexes. Inhibitory interneurons add versatility to movements, while excitatory collaterals from cerebellar afferents directly to cerebellar deep nuclei improve sensitivity of the system. These mechanisms work for all movements whether active, passive, or reflexive.

Action Potentials↗

Pattern of descending excitation of presumed propriospinal neurones at the onset of voluntary movement in humans.

The pattern of activation of presumed 'propriospinal' neurones was investigated in human subjects during phasic voluntary contractions of one of the following muscles: biceps, triceps, flexor carpi radialis (FCR), flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) and extensor carpi radialis (ECR). Changes in the amplitude of the H reflex (FCR, ECR), or the tendon jerk (biceps, triceps) were used to assess the excitability of the corresponding motoneurone pools after conditioning stimulation. Conditioning stimuli were applied to the musculo-cutaneous, triceps and ulnar nerves. In most cases reflex facilitation was not observed at rest and was only disclosed at the onset of contraction. The characteristics of this facilitation (3-4 ms central delay, short duration, low threshold, depression when the afferent input was increased) are consistent with those previously attributed to 'propriospinal' excitation. It is argued that the contraction-associated facilitation was descending in origin. The descending facilitation of the 'propriospinal' system had a characteristic pattern in that the pathways selected by higher centres were those receiving the afferent feedback from the contracting muscle. These results provide further insight into the organization of human 'propriospinal' pathways: (1) it is confirmed that afferents from each muscle activate a specific subset of neurones; and (2) it is suggested that the projections of each subset are divergent, implying that individual neurones project onto diverse motor nuclei, an organization that would favour the co-ordination of multi-joint movements. Such an organization is discussed in relation to the possible role of the propriospinal system in the control of normal human upper limb movements.

Adult↗

Meta level concept versus classic reflex concept for the control of posture and movement.

Postural reflexes are replaced soon after birth by automatic reactions that allow for volition and cognition. It is still an enigma how this change in postural control is achieved. We suggest that the change involves the formation of a sensory processing level (meta level) that becomes interleaved in between the tight sensor-actuator coupling of the classic reflexes. We assume that the brain applies at this level intersensory interactions to reconstruct the physical stimuli which are causing the physiological stimuli and sensory signals. The thus derived estimates of the physical stimuli are then used as feedback signals in the posture control system. We present this concept on the background of the classic reflex concept and earlier attempts in the literature to overcome it. The earlier attempts were often motivated by the question how the brain prevents voluntary movements from being hampered by reflexive stabilisation of posture (so-called posture-movement problem). We compare our new concept with the classic reflex concept in a theoretical approach, by implementing both concepts into simple postural control models. In simulations of the two models we superimpose external perturbations (the physical stimuli) and a voluntary body lean movement. We show that it is possible to achieve successful stimulus compensation and unperturbed lean movement with both, the model derived from the new concept and the one of the classic reflex concept. With both approaches, the posture-movement problem does not arise. Based on preliminary considerations that include experimental findings from the literature, however, we conclude that the new concept provides more explanatory power than the classic reflex concept.

Animals↗

Visual localization with eye movements: a review.

This paper reviews and discusses the most popular theories which have been proposed to account for the stability of the visual environment during eye movements. The subject is discussed chiefly from the stand-point of phylogeny rather than its contemporary treatment which attempts to explain neural mechanism by analogy with robotic systems or models. Certain conclusions are formed, and it is postulated that the constancy of egocentric directions following an eye movement is affected by the same mechanism that serves to retain the positional constancy of objects during the operation of the primitive postural reflex.

Afterimage↗

Exteroceptive reflexes in jaw-closing muscle EMG during rhythmic jaw closing and clenching in man.

Exteroceptive jaw reflexes might play a role in normal functions of the mouth such as mastication. Until now these reflexes have only been studied under isometric conditions. The aim of this study was to compare exteroceptive reflexes in jaw muscle EMG during the closing phase of rhythmic open-close movements and clenching, at the same jaw gape and with similar muscle EMG. Reflexes consisting of successive waves of decreased and increased muscle activity (the Q, R, S and T waves of the post-stimulus electromyographic complex (PSEC)), evoked by light noxious electrical stimulation of the vermillion border of the lower lip, were recorded from the jaw closing muscles of 17 subjects. Differences between the two tasks occurred in two phases of the PSEC: (1) in an early phase, around the R wave, there was significantly less EMG during jaw closing (mean EMG ratio between jaw-closing and clenching 0.71), and (2) in a late phase, around the transition between the S to the T wave, there was significantly more EMG during jaw closing (mean EMG ratio: 1.40). The decrease in EMG activity around the R wave during jaw closing may be due to a change in reflex sensitivity at an interneuron level. The increase in EMG activity around the transition between the S and T waves during jaw closing might, at least in part, be due to a proprioceptive stretch reflex. This reflex is mediated by muscles spindles that are activated by the deceleration of the jaw evoked by the lip stimulus. The finding of inhibitory reflex mechanisms that predominate more during rhythmic jaw movements than during clenching in an early phase of the PSEC might be related to protecting oral tissues from trauma when the jaw is closing with potentially a large muscle force. In contrast, when food is held between the teeth, a possible inhibitory influence of light noxious stimuli is diminished.

Adolescent↗

The participation of forelimb flexors in labyrinth and neck reflexes in the decerebrate cat.

The reflex behaviour of triceps and biceps brachii was assessed by EMG recordings during natural labyrinth or neck stimulation. Labyrinth reflexes resulting from changes in head position are antagonistic to those resulting from changes in neck position. Reflexes recorded from biceps were reciprocal to those recorded in ipsilateral triceps and symmetrical to those from contralateral triceps. A scheme of labyrinth and neck reflexes involving forelimb flexors is presented.

Animals↗

Reversal of sign of long spinal reflexes dependent on the phase of the step cycle in the high decerebrate cat.

Reversal of the sign of long ascending and descending spinal reflexes dependent on the phase of the step cycle has been shown in the high decerebrate cat. Electrical stimuli were applied to the skin over the dorsum of the metacarpals and metatarsals and the effects were recorded in the corresponding hindlimb or forelimb of the same side. Stimulation generally evoked an increase in activity of flexor or extensor muscles shortly before, and during, activity of the muscle. Inhibition of a muscle occurred when its activity overlapped with the activity of an antagonist muscle. From the latencies it was concluded that at least the early components of the long reflex responses are due to spinal mechanisms. In the stimulated limb the activity of flexor and extensor muscles was also modulated in a phase dependent manner. No consistent long spinal responses to skin stimulation were obtained in high spinal cats during stepping. Electrical stimulation of cutaneous nerve trunks in decerebrate preparations during stepping gave variable though phase dependent long spinal reflex effects.

Animals↗