PMID- 17940760
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20080603
LR  - 20211020
IS  - 1432-1106 (Electronic)
IS  - 0014-4819 (Linking)
VI  - 185
IP  - 2
DP  - 2008 Feb
TI  - Sequential activation of axial muscles during different forms of rhythmic 
      behavior in man.
PG  - 237-47
AB  - In humans, studies of back muscle activity have mainly addressed the functioning 
      of lumbar muscles during postural adjustments or rhythmic activity, including 
      locomotor tasks. The present study investigated how back muscles are activated 
      along the spine during rhythmical activities in order to gain insights into 
      spinal neuronal organization. Electromyographic recordings of back muscles were 
      performed at various trunk levels, and changes occurring in burst amplitudes and 
      phase relationships were analyzed. Subjects performed several rhythmic behaviors: 
      forward walking (FW), backward walking (BW), amble walking (where the subjects 
      moved their arms in phase with the ipsilateral leg), walking on hands and knees 
      (HK) and walking on hands with the knees on the edge of a treadmill (Hand). In a 
      final task, the subjects were standing and were asked to swing (Swing) only their 
      arms as if they were walking. It was found that axial trunk muscles are 
      sequentially activated by a motor command running along the spinal cord (which we 
      term "motor waves") during various types of locomotion or other rhythmic motor 
      tasks. The bursting pattern recorded under these conditions can be classified 
      into three categories: (1) double-burst rhythmic activity in a descending (i.e., 
      with a rostro-caudal propagation) motor wave during FW, BW and HK conditions; (2) 
      double-burst rhythmic activity with a stationary motor wave (i.e., occurring in a 
      single phase along the trunk) during the 'amble' walk condition; (3) monophasic 
      rhythmic activity with an ascending (i.e., with a caudo-rostral propagation) 
      motor wave during the Swing and Hands conditions. Our results suggest that the 
      networks responsible for the axial propagation of motor activity during 
      locomotion may correspond to those observed in invertebrates or lower 
      vertebrates, and thus may have been partly phylogenetically conserved. Such an 
      organization could support the dynamic control of posture by ensuring fluent 
      movement during locomotion.
FAU - de Seze, Mathieu
AU  - de Seze M
AD  - Universite Bordeaux 2, CNRS UMR 5227, Zone nord Bat 2, 2e etage, 146, rue Leo 
      Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France.
FAU - Falgairolle, Melanie
AU  - Falgairolle M
FAU - Viel, Sebastien
AU  - Viel S
FAU - Assaiante, Christine
AU  - Assaiante C
FAU - Cazalets, Jean-Rene
AU  - Cazalets JR
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20071017
PL  - Germany
TA  - Exp Brain Res
JT  - Experimental brain research
JID - 0043312
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Back/*physiology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Motor Activity/*physiology
MH  - Muscle, Skeletal/*physiology
MH  - *Periodicity
MH  - Psychomotor Performance/physiology
MH  - Time Factors
MH  - Walking/physiology
EDAT- 2007/10/18 09:00
MHDA- 2008/06/05 09:00
CRDT- 2007/10/18 09:00
PHST- 2007/06/01 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2007/09/17 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2007/10/18 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2008/06/05 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/10/18 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1007/s00221-007-1146-2 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Exp Brain Res. 2008 Feb;185(2):237-47. doi: 10.1007/s00221-007-1146-2. Epub 2007 
      Oct 17.