Abstract
The coordination between arms and legs during human locomotion shares many features with that in quadrupeds, yet there is limited evidence for the central pattern generator for the upper limbs in humans. Here we investigated whether different types of tonic stimulation, previously used for eliciting stepping-like leg movements, may evoke nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements. Twenty healthy subjects participated in this study. The subject was lying on the side, the trunk was fixed, and all four limbs were suspended in a gravity neutral position, allowing unrestricted low-friction limb movements in the horizontal plane. The results showed that peripheral sensory stimulation (continuous muscle vibration) and central tonic activation (postcontraction state of neuronal networks following a long-lasting isometric voluntary effort, Kohnstamm phenomenon) could evoke nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements in most subjects. In ~40% of subjects, tonic stimulation elicited nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements together with rhythmic movements of suspended legs. The fact that not all participants exhibited nonvoluntary limb oscillations may reflect interindividual differences in responsiveness of spinal pattern generation circuitry to its activation. The occurrence and the characteristics of induced movements highlight the rhythmogenesis capacity of cervical neuronal circuitries, complementing the growing body of work on the quadrupedal nature of human gait.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1018-1030 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Neurophysiology |
| Volume | 115 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 19 2016 |
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Keywords
- Arm-leg coordination
- Central pattern generator
- Human cervical spinal cord
- Kohnstamm phenomenon
- Sensory stimulation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Human cervical spinal cord circuitry activated by tonic input can generate rhythmic arm movements. / Solopova, I. A.; Selionov, V. A.; Zhvansky, D. S.; Gurfinkel, V. S.; Ivanenko, Y.
In: Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol. 115, No. 2, 19.02.2016, p. 1018-1030.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Human cervical spinal cord circuitry activated by tonic input can generate rhythmic arm movements
AU - Solopova, I. A.
AU - Selionov, V. A.
AU - Zhvansky, D. S.
AU - Gurfinkel, V. S.
AU - Ivanenko, Y.
PY - 2016/2/19
Y1 - 2016/2/19
N2 - The coordination between arms and legs during human locomotion shares many features with that in quadrupeds, yet there is limited evidence for the central pattern generator for the upper limbs in humans. Here we investigated whether different types of tonic stimulation, previously used for eliciting stepping-like leg movements, may evoke nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements. Twenty healthy subjects participated in this study. The subject was lying on the side, the trunk was fixed, and all four limbs were suspended in a gravity neutral position, allowing unrestricted low-friction limb movements in the horizontal plane. The results showed that peripheral sensory stimulation (continuous muscle vibration) and central tonic activation (postcontraction state of neuronal networks following a long-lasting isometric voluntary effort, Kohnstamm phenomenon) could evoke nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements in most subjects. In ~40% of subjects, tonic stimulation elicited nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements together with rhythmic movements of suspended legs. The fact that not all participants exhibited nonvoluntary limb oscillations may reflect interindividual differences in responsiveness of spinal pattern generation circuitry to its activation. The occurrence and the characteristics of induced movements highlight the rhythmogenesis capacity of cervical neuronal circuitries, complementing the growing body of work on the quadrupedal nature of human gait.
AB - The coordination between arms and legs during human locomotion shares many features with that in quadrupeds, yet there is limited evidence for the central pattern generator for the upper limbs in humans. Here we investigated whether different types of tonic stimulation, previously used for eliciting stepping-like leg movements, may evoke nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements. Twenty healthy subjects participated in this study. The subject was lying on the side, the trunk was fixed, and all four limbs were suspended in a gravity neutral position, allowing unrestricted low-friction limb movements in the horizontal plane. The results showed that peripheral sensory stimulation (continuous muscle vibration) and central tonic activation (postcontraction state of neuronal networks following a long-lasting isometric voluntary effort, Kohnstamm phenomenon) could evoke nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements in most subjects. In ~40% of subjects, tonic stimulation elicited nonvoluntary rhythmic arm movements together with rhythmic movements of suspended legs. The fact that not all participants exhibited nonvoluntary limb oscillations may reflect interindividual differences in responsiveness of spinal pattern generation circuitry to its activation. The occurrence and the characteristics of induced movements highlight the rhythmogenesis capacity of cervical neuronal circuitries, complementing the growing body of work on the quadrupedal nature of human gait.
KW - Arm-leg coordination
KW - Central pattern generator
KW - Human cervical spinal cord
KW - Kohnstamm phenomenon
KW - Sensory stimulation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84958787144&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84958787144&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1152/jn.00897.2015
DO - 10.1152/jn.00897.2015
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84958787144
VL - 115
SP - 1018
EP - 1030
JO - Journal of Neurophysiology
JF - Journal of Neurophysiology
SN - 0022-3077
IS - 2
ER -