Cortical facilitation of cutaneous reflexes in leg muscles during human gait

During human gait, cortical convergence on sural nerve reflex pathways was investigated by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the cortex in five phases of the step cycle during human walking on a treadmill. Muscular responses to paired electrical and magnetic stimulation were compar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research 1998-03, Vol.787 (1), p.149-153
Main Authors: Pijnappels, M, Van Wezel, B.M.H, Colombo, G, Dietz, V, Duysens, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biceps femoris
Biological and medical sciences
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Cortical facilitation
Cutaneous reflexes
Electric Stimulation
Electromyography
Evoked Potentials, Motor - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gait - physiology
Human gait
Humans
Leg - innervation
Magnetic stimulation
Magnetics
Muscle, Skeletal - innervation
Reaction Time - physiology
Reflex - physiology
Skin - innervation
Sural nerve
Tibialis anterior
Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports
Walking - physiology
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Summary:During human gait, cortical convergence on sural nerve reflex pathways was investigated by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the cortex in five phases of the step cycle during human walking on a treadmill. Muscular responses to paired electrical and magnetic stimulation were compared with the linear summation of the individual stimuli. For both the tibialis anterior (TA) and biceps femoris (BF) muscles, the averaged data of four subjects showed a significant facilitation mainly in the swing phase of the step cycle. It is suggested that facilitation of corticospinal input onto cutaneous reflex pathways is enhanced specifically in these periods of the step cycle.
ISSN:0006-8993
1872-6240
DOI:10.1016/S0006-8993(97)01557-6