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J Neurophysiol 89: 2396-2405, 2003. First published January 22, 2003; doi:10.1152/jn.01020.2002
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J Neurophysiol (May 1, 2003). 10.1152/jn.01020.2002
Submitted on Submitted 11 November 2002; accepted in final form 18 January 2003

Role of Cocontraction in Arm Movement Accuracy

Paul L. Gribble,1,2,3 Lucy I. Mullin,1,2 Nicholas Cothros,1,3 and Andrew Mattar1,2

 1Department of Psychology,  2Department of Physiology and Pharmacology,  3Graduate Program in Neuroscience, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada

Gribble, Paul L., Lucy I. Mullin, Nicholas Cothros, and Andrew Mattar. Role of Cocontraction in Arm Movement Accuracy. J. Neurophysiol. 89: 2396-2405, 2003. Cocontraction (the simultaneous activation of antagonist muscles around a joint) provides the nervous system with a way to adapt the mechanical properties of the limb to changing task requirements---both in statics and during movement. However, relatively little is known about the conditions under which the motor system modulates limb impedance through cocontraction. The goal of this study was to test for a possible relationship between cocontraction and movement accuracy in multi-joint limb movements. The electromyographic activity of seven single- and double-joint shoulder and elbow muscles was recorded using surface electrodes while subjects performed a pointing task in a horizontal plane to targets that varied randomly in size. Movement speed was controlled by providing subjects with feedback on a trial-to-trial basis. Measures of cocontraction were estimated both during movement and during a 200-ms window immediately following movement end. We observed an inverse relationship between target size and cocontraction: as target size was reduced, cocontraction activity increased. In addition, trajectory variability decreased and endpoint accuracy improved. This suggests that, although energetically expensive, cocontraction may be a strategy used by the motor system to facilitate multi-joint arm movement accuracy. We also observed a general trend for cocontraction levels to decrease over time, supporting the idea that cocontraction and associated limb stiffness are reduced over the course of practice.




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