JN Journal of Neurophysiology
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J Neurophysiol (April 16, 2008). doi:10.1152/jn.00487.2007
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Submitted on April 30, 2007
Accepted on April 9, 2008

Adaptation of cutaneous stumble correction when tripping is part of the locomotor environment

Carlos Haridas1, E. Paul Zehr2, and John E. Misiaszek3*

1 School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Alberta, United Kingdom
2 Rehabilitation Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada; International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), Victoria, Canada
3 Occupational Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: john.misiaszek{at}ualberta.ca.

We recently showed that cutaneous reflexes evoked by stimulating the superficial peroneal (SP; innervates foot dorsum) nerve are modulated according to the level of postural threat. Context-related modulation was observed mainly in contralateral (c) responses, but not in the ipsilateral responses. This lack of effect on ipsilateral (i) cutaneous reflexes might have been due to the general nature of the whole-body perturbation. We therefore hypothesized that context-relevant mechanical perturbations applied to the dorsum of the foot by an instrumented rod at early swing during walking would produce differences in ipsilateral cutaneous reflex amplitudes, consistent with the functional relevance of the SP nerve in stumble correction responses. Subjects walked on a motorized treadmill under 4 conditions: 1) normal, 2) normal with mechanical perturbations at the foot dorsum, 3) arms crossed, and 4) arms crossed with mechanical perturbations at the foot dorsum. Electrical stimulation of the SP nerve was delivered at five phases of the step cycle, and cutaneous reflexes were compared between all conditions for each phase of the step cycle. Reflex responses were generally found to be modulated in amplitude during walking conditions in which mechanical perturbations were delivered, particularly in iTA, which showed a marked reduction in inhibition. The results indicated reflexes in iTA and cMG were influenced by the threat of a trip, induced by applying mechanical perturbations to the foot dorsum during walking. This task-related gating of cutaneous reflexes was not generalized to all muscles, thus suggesting a functional role in the maintenance of stability during locomotion.







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