Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex Fails to Explain the Initial Postural Response to Sudden Lateral Perturbations
Postural reflexes are essential for locomotion and postural stability, and may play an important role in the etiology of chronic back pain. It has recently been theoretically predicted, and with the help of unilateral perturbations of the trunk experimentally confirmed that the sensorimotor control...
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doaj-5d39ec3d76ff44918f434220ca33bdf62020-11-25T03:01:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612017-06-011110.3389/fnhum.2017.00296269902Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex Fails to Explain the Initial Postural Response to Sudden Lateral PerturbationsAndreas Mühlbeier0Andreas Mühlbeier1Christian Puta2Christian Puta3Kim J. Boström4Heiko Wagner5Heiko Wagner6Department of Movement Science, University of MünsterMünster, GermanyCenter for Interdisciplinary Prevention of Diseases Related to Professional Activities, Friedrich Schiller University JenaJena, GermanyCenter for Interdisciplinary Prevention of Diseases Related to Professional Activities, Friedrich Schiller University JenaJena, GermanyDepartment of Sports Medicine and Health Promotion, Friedrich Schiller University JenaJena, GermanyDepartment of Movement Science, University of MünsterMünster, GermanyDepartment of Movement Science, University of MünsterMünster, GermanyCenter for Interdisciplinary Prevention of Diseases Related to Professional Activities, Friedrich Schiller University JenaJena, GermanyPostural reflexes are essential for locomotion and postural stability, and may play an important role in the etiology of chronic back pain. It has recently been theoretically predicted, and with the help of unilateral perturbations of the trunk experimentally confirmed that the sensorimotor control must lower the reflex amplitude for increasing reflex delays to maintain spinal stability. The underlying neuromuscular mechanism for the compensation of postural perturbations, however, is not yet fully understood. In this study, we applied unilateral and bilateral sudden external perturbations to the trunk of healthy subjects and measured the muscular activity and the movement onset of the trunk. We found that the onset of the trunk muscle activity is prior to, or coincident with, the onset of the trunk movement. Additionally, the results of our experiments imply that the muscular response mechanism integrates distant sensory information from both sides of the body. These findings rule out a simple monosynaptic stretch reflex in favor of a more complex polysynaptic postural reflex mechanism to compensate postural perturbations. Moreover, the previously predicted negative correlation between reflex delay and reflex gain was also confirmed for bilateral perturbations.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00296/fullpostural reflexsudden perturbationsmonosynaptic stretch reflexpolysynaptic reflexspinal stabilitychronic low back pain |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Andreas Mühlbeier Andreas Mühlbeier Christian Puta Christian Puta Kim J. Boström Heiko Wagner Heiko Wagner |
spellingShingle |
Andreas Mühlbeier Andreas Mühlbeier Christian Puta Christian Puta Kim J. Boström Heiko Wagner Heiko Wagner Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex Fails to Explain the Initial Postural Response to Sudden Lateral Perturbations Frontiers in Human Neuroscience postural reflex sudden perturbations monosynaptic stretch reflex polysynaptic reflex spinal stability chronic low back pain |
author_facet |
Andreas Mühlbeier Andreas Mühlbeier Christian Puta Christian Puta Kim J. Boström Heiko Wagner Heiko Wagner |
author_sort |
Andreas Mühlbeier |
title |
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex Fails to Explain the Initial Postural Response to Sudden Lateral Perturbations |
title_short |
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex Fails to Explain the Initial Postural Response to Sudden Lateral Perturbations |
title_full |
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex Fails to Explain the Initial Postural Response to Sudden Lateral Perturbations |
title_fullStr |
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex Fails to Explain the Initial Postural Response to Sudden Lateral Perturbations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex Fails to Explain the Initial Postural Response to Sudden Lateral Perturbations |
title_sort |
monosynaptic stretch reflex fails to explain the initial postural response to sudden lateral perturbations |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
issn |
1662-5161 |
publishDate |
2017-06-01 |
description |
Postural reflexes are essential for locomotion and postural stability, and may play an important role in the etiology of chronic back pain. It has recently been theoretically predicted, and with the help of unilateral perturbations of the trunk experimentally confirmed that the sensorimotor control must lower the reflex amplitude for increasing reflex delays to maintain spinal stability. The underlying neuromuscular mechanism for the compensation of postural perturbations, however, is not yet fully understood. In this study, we applied unilateral and bilateral sudden external perturbations to the trunk of healthy subjects and measured the muscular activity and the movement onset of the trunk. We found that the onset of the trunk muscle activity is prior to, or coincident with, the onset of the trunk movement. Additionally, the results of our experiments imply that the muscular response mechanism integrates distant sensory information from both sides of the body. These findings rule out a simple monosynaptic stretch reflex in favor of a more complex polysynaptic postural reflex mechanism to compensate postural perturbations. Moreover, the previously predicted negative correlation between reflex delay and reflex gain was also confirmed for bilateral perturbations. |
topic |
postural reflex sudden perturbations monosynaptic stretch reflex polysynaptic reflex spinal stability chronic low back pain |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00296/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
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