|
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
2 Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jaynie.yang{at}ualberta.ca.
Sensory input is critical for adapting motor outputs to meet environmental conditions. A ubiquitous force on all terrestrial animals is gravity. It is possible that when performing rhythmic movements, animals respond to load-related feedback in the same way by prolonging the muscle activity resisting the load. We hypothesized that for rhythmic leg movements, the period (extension or flexion) experiencing the higher load will be longer and vary more strongly with cycle period. Six rhythmic movements were studied in human infants (aged 3-10 months), each providing different degrees of load-related feedback to the legs during flexion and extension of the limb. Kicking in supine provided similar loads (inertial) during flexion and extension. Stepping on a treadmill, kicking in supine against a foot-plate, and kicking in sitting loaded the legs during extension more than flexion, whereas air-stepping and air-stepping with ankle weights did the opposite. Video, electrogoniometry, surface electromyography and contact forces were recorded. We showed that load-related feedback could make either the duration of flexion or extension longer. Within the tasks of stepping and kicking against a plate, infants who exerted lower forces showed shorter extensor durations than those who exerted higher forces. Since older babies tend to step with greater force, we wished to rule out the contribution of age. Eight babies (> 8 months old) were studied during stepping, in which we manipulated the amount of weight-bearing. The same effect of load was seen. Hence, the degree of loading directly affects the duration of extension in an incremental way.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
N. S. Bradley, Y. U. Ryu, and J. Lin Fast Locomotor Burst Generation in Late Stage Embryonic Motility J Neurophysiol, April 1, 2008; 99(4): 1733 - 1742. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
L. Juvin, J. Simmers, and D. Morin Locomotor rhythmogenesis in the isolated rat spinal cord: a phase-coupled set of symmetrical flexion extension oscillators J. Physiol., August 15, 2007; 583(1): 115 - 128. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |