HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 99/3/1119    most recent 01059.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Winges, S. A. Articles by Santello, M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Winges, S. A. Articles by Santello, M.

Common Input to Motor Units of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Hand Muscles During Two-Digit Object Hold

¹Department of Kinesiology and ²The Harrington Department of Bioengineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Submitted 25 September 2007; accepted in final form 29 December 2007

Anatomical and physiological evidence suggests that common input to motor neurons of hand muscles is an important neural mechanism for hand control. To gain insight into the synaptic input underlying the coordination of hand muscles, significant effort has been devoted to describing the distribution of common input across motor units of extrinsic muscles. Much less is known, however, about the distribution of common input to motor units belonging to different intrinsic muscles and to intrinsic-extrinsic muscle pairs. To address this void in the literature, we quantified the incidence and strength of near-simultaneous discharges of motor units residing in either the same or different intrinsic hand muscles (m. first dorsal, FDI, and m. first palmar interosseus, FPI) during two-digit object hold. To extend the characterization of common input to pairs of extrinsic muscles (previous work) and pairs of intrinsic muscles (present work), we also recorded electromyographic (EMG) activity from an extrinsic thumb muscle (m. flexor pollicis longus, FPL). Motor-unit synchrony across FDI and FPI was weak (common input strength, CIS, mean ± SE: 0.17 ± 0.02). Similarly, motor units from extrinsic-intrinsic muscle pairs were characterized by weak synchrony (FPL-FDI: 0.25 ± 0.02; FPL-FPI: 0.29 ± 0.03) although stronger than FDI-FPI. Last, CIS from within FDI and FPI was more than three times stronger (0.70 ± 0.06 and 0.66 ± 0.06, respectively) than across these muscles. We discuss present and previous findings within the framework of muscle-pair specific distribution of common input to hand muscles based on their functional role in grasping.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. A. Winges, S. E. Eonta, J. F. Soechting, and M. Flanders Multi-Digit Control of Contact Forces During Rotation of a Hand-Held Object J Neurophysiol, April 1, 2008; 99(4): 1846 - 1856. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]