The execution of rhythmical motor tasks requires the control of multiple skeletal muscles by the Central Nervous System (CNS), and the neural mechanisms according to which the CNS manages their coordination are not completely clear yet. In this study, we analyze the distribution of the neural drive shared across muscles that work synergistically during the execution of a free pedaling task. Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded from eight lower limb muscles of eleven healthy untrained participants during an unconstrained pedaling exercise. The coordinated activity of the lower limb muscles was described within the framework of muscle synergies, extracted through the application of nonnegative matrix factorization. Intermuscular synchronization was assessed by calculating intermuscular coherence between pairs of EMG signals from co-active, both synergistic and non-synergistic muscles within their periods of co-activation. The spatiotemporal structure of muscle coordination during pedaling was well represented by four muscle synergies for all the subjects. Significant coherence values within the gamma band (30-60 Hz) were identified only for one out of the four extracted muscle synergies. This synergy is mainly composed of the activity of knee extensor muscles, and its function is related to the power production and crank propelling during the pedaling cycle. In addition, a significant coherence peak was found in the lower frequencies for the GAM/SOL muscle pair, possibly related to the ankle stabilizing function of these two muscles during the pedaling task. No synchronization was found either for the other extracted muscle synergies or for pairs of co-active but non-synergistic muscles. The obtained results seem to suggest the presence of intermuscular synchronization only when a functional force production is required, with the observed gamma band contribution possibly reflecting a cortical drive to synergistic muscles during pedaling.

Cycling training is strongly applied in post-stroke rehabilitation, but how its modular control is altered soon after stroke has been not analyzed yet. EMG signals from 9 leg muscles and pedal forces were measured bilaterally during recumbent pedaling in 16 post-acute stroke patients and 12 age-matched healthy controls. Patients were asked to walk over a GaitRite mat and standard gait parameters were computed. Four muscle synergies were extracted through nonnegative matrix factorization in healthy subjects and patients unaffected legs. Two to four synergies were identified in the affected sides and the number of synergies significantly correlated with the Motricity Index (Spearman’s coefficient = 0.521). The reduced coordination complexity resulted in a reduced biomechanical performance, with the two-module sub-group showing the lowest work production and mechanical effectiveness in the affected side. These patients also exhibited locomotor impairments (reduced gait speed, asymmetrical stance time, prolonged double support time). Significant correlations were found between cycling-based metrics and gait parameters, suggesting that neuro-mechanical quantities of pedaling can inform on walking dysfunctions. Our findings support the use of pedaling as a rehabilitation method and an assessment tool after stroke, mainly in the early phase, when patients can be unable to perform a safe and active gait training.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10439-016-1660-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Recent studies have reported evidence that the motor system may rely on a modular organization, even if this behavior has yet to be confirmed during motor adaptation. The aim of the present study is to investigate the modular motor control mechanisms underlying the execution of pedaling by untrained subjects in different biomechanical conditions. We use the muscle synergies framework to characterize the muscle coordination of 11 subjects pedaling under two different conditions. The first one consists of a pedaling exercise with a strategy freely chosen by the subjects (Preferred Pedaling Technique, PPT), while the second condition constrains the gesture by means of a real time visual feedback of mechanical effectiveness (Effective Pedaling Technique, EPT). Pedal forces, recorded using a pair of instrumented pedals, were used to calculate the Index of Effectiveness (IE). EMG signals were recorded from eight muscles of the dominant leg and Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) was applied for the extraction of muscle synergies. All the synergy vectors, extracted cycle by cycle for each subject, were pooled across subjects and conditions and underwent a 2-dimensional Sammon's non-linear mapping. Seven representative clusters were identified on the Sammon's projection, and the corresponding eight-dimensional synergy vectors were used to reconstruct the repertoire of muscle activation for all subjects and all pedaling conditions (VAF > 0.8 for each individual muscle pattern). Only 5 out of the 7 identified modules were used by the subjects during the PPT pedaling condition, while 2 additional modules were found specific for the pedaling condition EPT. The temporal recruitment of three identified modules was highly correlated with IE. The structure of the identified modules was found similar to that extracted in other studies of human walking, partly confirming the existence of shared and task specific muscle synergies, and providing further evidence on the modularity of the motor system.