Afferent and efferent activation of human muscle receptors involved in reflex and voluntary contraction

Burg, Doris; Szumski, Alfred J.; Strüppler, A.; Velho, Francisco

doi:10.1016/0014-4886(73)90066-6

Cited by 63 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…They are known to have extremely low thresholds in response to active contraction (Jansen and Rudjord, 1964;Houk and Henneman, 1967) and respond poorly to passive stretch (Houk et al, 1971 ). In man, tendon organ afferents discharge at long latency to muscle stretch, when the muscle reflex contraction first occurs (Burg et al, 1973). If this result also applied to our experiments, Golgi organs would have been activated 35 to 40 ms after the tendon tap, at the time of the first reflex contraction.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Cerebral Somatosensory Potentials Evoked by Muscle Stretch, Cutaneous Taps and Electrical Stimulation of Peripheral Nerves in the Lower Limbs in Man

Cohen

Starr

Pratt

1985

Brain

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SUMMARYSomatosensory cerebral evoked potentials were recorded in man to natural forms of somatosensory stimulation of the lower extremity including stretching of the muscle tendons, tapping on muscle bellies and tapping on cutaneous surfaces. These potentials were compared with those evoked by electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves measuring the amplitudes and latencies of the evoked potential components and defining the effects of stimulus variables on these parameters. Spinal cord potentials could only be detected to electrical stimuli Mechanical stimulation of tendons and muscle bellies evoked scalp potentials at latencies earlier than those evoked by electrical stimulation of the peripheral nerve and by cutaneous stimulation at the same level of the leg. M1USCle receptors, most probably muscle spindles, are the source of the short latency components obtained by the stretching of tendons and tapping on muscle bellies. The proximal location of these receptolfS as well as very rapid spinal conduction account for the latency difference.The potentials were larger to electrical stimulation of nerve trunks than to mechanical stimulation of tendons or skin, suggesting the asynchronous activation of a smaller number of fibres by the latter. Individuals with the largest potentials to one form of stimulation usually had the largest potentials to the other modes of stimulation.The use of physiological stimuli such as muscle stretch to test the transmission in specific neural pathways might be useful in investigating the processing of relatively selective afferent volleys using noninvasive evoked potential recordings.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Cerebral Somatosensory Potentials Evoked by Muscle Stretch, Cutaneous Taps and Electrical Stimulation of Peripheral Nerves in the Lower Limbs in Man

Cohen

Starr

Pratt

1985

Brain

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“…The present findings are consonant with several previous microneurography recordings from spindle afferents in the upper and lower limb in that it failed to demonstrate gamma independence while, in other studies, minute indications of a faint gamma dissociation were occasionally found in a small minority of the spindle afferents recorded (Burg et al 1973(Burg et al , 1974Burke et al 1980a, b;Hagbarth 1981;Vallbo and Hulliger 1981;Gandevia and Burke 1985;Al-Falahe and Vallbo 1988;Aniss et al 1988Aniss et al , 1990aVallbo and Al-Falahe 1990;Gandevia et al 1994;Nielsen et al 1994;Wessberg and Vallbo 1995;Kakuda et al 1996). As a summary of microneurography studies on the issue of gamma independence, it seems fair to conclude that clear evidence of major and consistent fusimotor resetting has not been identified in man except when subjects increase or decrease the amount of extrafusal contraction in the parent muscle.…”

Section: Fusimotor Independence: Difference Between Findings From Behsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…In human subjects, on the other hand, only minute, often dubious, changes of spindle firing rates have been found in a small minority of afferents, except when the parent muscle contraction is adjusted (Burg et al 1973(Burg et al , 1974Burke et al 1980a, b;Hagbarth 1981;Vallbo and Hulliger 1981;Gandevia and Burke 1985;Al-Falahe and Vallbo 1988;Aniss et al 1988Aniss et al , 1990aVallbo and AlFalahe 1990;Gandevia et al 1994;Nielsen et al 1994;Wessberg and Vallbo 1995;Kakuda et al 1996). In contrast, one single study based on recordings from presumed gamma-efferents suggests that substantial fusimotor adjustments occur with various manoeuvres (Ribot et al 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is human muscle spindle afference dependent on perceived size of error in visual tracking?

Kakuda

Wessberg²,

Vallbo³

1997

Exp Brain Res

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Impulses of 16 muscle spindle afferents from finger extensor muscles were recorded from the radial nerve along with electromyographic (EMG) activity and kinematics of joint movement. Twelve units were classified as Ia and 4 as II spindle afferents. Subjects were requested to perform precision movements at a single metacarpophalangeal joint in an indirect visual tracking task. Similar movements were executed under two different conditions, i.e. with high and low error gain. The purpose was to explore whether different precision demands were associated with different spindle firing rates. With high error gain, a small but significantly higher impulse rate was found in pooled data from Ia afferents during lengthening movements but not during shortening movements, nor with II afferents. EMG was also significantly higher with high error gain in recordings with Ia afferents. When the effect of EMG was factored out, using partial correlation analysis, the significant difference in Ia firing rate vanished. The findings suggest that fusimotor drive as well as skeletomotor activity were both marginally higher when the precision demand was higher, whereas no indication of independent fusimotor adjustments was found. These results are discussed with respect to data from behaving animals and the role of fusimotor independence in various limb muscles proposed.

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“…activity agrees with the view that the e.m.g. peaks are due to successive spinal stretch reflexes, not involving any fusimotor-induced co-activation of spindles (Burg, Szumski, Struppler & Velho, 1973;Hagbarth, Wallin, Lbfstedt & Aquilonius, 1975).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grouped spindle and electromyographic responses to abrupt wrist extension movements in man

Hagbarth

Hägglund

Wallin

et al. 1981

The Journal of Physiology

129

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SUMMARY1. Different techniques were used to generate sudden ramp extension movements of the wrist while the subjects were either relaxed or maintaining a weak voluntary contraction in the wrist flexors. Afferent responses to the displacements were recorded with a tungsten micro-electrode inserted into a fascicle of the median nerve supplying one of the wrist flexor muscles, and e.m.g. responses were recorded with needle electrodes inserted into the same muscle.2. With the wrist flexors either relaxed or contracting, extensions at 100-200'/sec for 60-70 msec (generated by either an hydraulic motor or a torque motor) produced segmented afferent responses with two to four afferent bursts, separated by intervals of 20-30 msec. The successive neural peaks, occuring during the stretch phase, were correlated to mechanical vibrations sensed by a strain gauge and sometimes also by a wrist goniometer. With the flexor muscles contracting, the successive peaks in the neurogram were followed by similar peaks in the e.m.g, the delay between neural and e.m.g. peaks being 20-25 msec.3. Small abrupt extension movements of 1-2°lasting only 10-15 msec often produced segmented afferent responses with one neural burst occuring during the stretch phase and another 15-20 msec later, corresponding to a mechanical oscillatory event succeeding the stretch. The oscillation and the second neural burst were not present with small extension movements of smooth onset and halt. With the flexor muscles contracting, stimuli producing one afferent burst produced only one e.m.g. peak, whereas double-peaked afferent discharges produced double-peaked e.m.g. responses, the delay between individual neural e.m.g. peaks being 20-25 msec.4. Similar segmentation of the neural stretch responses was seen when abrupt displacements were produced by electrically induced muscle twitches, by manual pulls on a spring attached to the hand or by the subject making fast voluntary wrist extensions. This grouping of afferent discharges was seen in both multi-unit and in single-unit recordings from fibres identified as group Ia afferents. 6. For imposed movements with a duration of 60-70 msec the successive e.m.g. peaks caused a fused reflex contraction, appearing as a torque trace deflexion, starting at about the time when the movement ended and reaching its peak within about 40 msec. With longer-lasting movements the mechanical reflex response accompanying the successive e.m.g. bursts, appeared as a decelerative force, starting to oppose the ongoing movement about 60 msec after its start. Mechanical consequences of stretch reflex contractions starting after, rather than during, the stretch movement are discussed.

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Afferent and efferent activation of human muscle receptors involved in reflex and voluntary contraction

Cited by 63 publications

References 31 publications

Cerebral Somatosensory Potentials Evoked by Muscle Stretch, Cutaneous Taps and Electrical Stimulation of Peripheral Nerves in the Lower Limbs in Man

Cerebral Somatosensory Potentials Evoked by Muscle Stretch, Cutaneous Taps and Electrical Stimulation of Peripheral Nerves in the Lower Limbs in Man

Is human muscle spindle afference dependent on perceived size of error in visual tracking?

Grouped spindle and electromyographic responses to abrupt wrist extension movements in man

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