Effects of postural and voluntary muscle contraction on modulation of the soleus H reflex by transcranial magnetic stimulation (original) (raw)
Related papers
Clinical …, 2012
A single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulus (TMS) may induce contraction in many muscles of the body at the same time. This is specially the case when using the double-cone coil to obtain the motor evoked potentials in leg muscles. Even if intensity is kept below threshold for the soleus muscle, TMS induces facilitation of the soleus H reXex that is separated into two phases: the Wrst, peaking at 10-20 ms and the second, peaking at 70-90 ms. We investigated the possibility that TMS-induced facilitation of the H reXex was related, at least in part, to the reaVerentation volley reaching the alpha motoneuron after synchronized contraction of other muscles in the body. To test this hypothesis, we examined the eVects of vibration on the TMS-induced facilitation of the soleus H reXex. As expected, vibration applied over the triceps tendon caused a signiWcant reduction in H reXex amplitude: 42.4 § 6.4 % of control values. When conditioned by TMS at intervals corresponding to the Wrst phase, the H reXex was facilitated to the same extent in both conditions: with and without vibration. However, at intervals corresponding to the second facilitation phase, there was a signiWcantly reduced facilitation with vibration. These diVerential eVects of vibration on the two phases of the TMS-induced facilitation of the H reXex indicate a diVerent mechanism for each facilitation phase. The Wrst phase could result from direct corticospinal excitatory input, while the second phase might depend on inputs via Ia aVerents from heteronymous muscles.
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 1999
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TCMS) causes leg muscle contractions, but the neural structures in the brain that are activated by TCMS and their relationship to these leg muscle responses are not clearly understood. To elucidate this, we concomitantly recorded leg muscle responses and thoracic spinal cord-evoked potentials (SCEPs) after TCMS for the first time in 10 awake, neurologically intact human subjects. In this report we provide evidence of direct and indirect activation of corticospinal neurons after TCMS. In three subjects, SCEP threshold (T) stimulus intensities recruited both the D wave (direct activation of corticospinal neurons) and the first I wave (I1, indirect activation of corticospinal neurons). In one subject, the D, I1, and I2 waves were recruited simultaneously, and in another subject, the I1 and I2 waves were recruited simultaneously. In the remaining five subjects, only the I1 wave was recruited first. More waves were recruited as the stimulus intensity in...
Responses of the soleus muscle to transcranial magnetic stimulation
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology/evoked Potentials Section, 1994
Soleus muscle responses are difficult to elicit by cortical stimulation in normal humans at rest. We have studied in normal volunteers the behavior of the soleus and tibialis anterior muscle responses to maximal intensity transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the following experimental conditions: lying in supine position, active ankle dorsal flexion, active plantar flexion, standing on the soles, standing on the toes, and standing on the heels. At rest, consistent responses were recorded in the soleus to 61% of the stimuli, only. Maximal facilitation of the response in the soleus occurred when standing on the toes. In this condition, responses were recorded to 100% of the stimuli, at a latency that was, on average, 5.2 msec shorter than the latency of the responses at rest, and similar to the latency of the responses recorded in the tibialis anterior muscle when standing on the heels. Central motor conduction time, calculated in conditions of maximal facilitation, was not different for soleus or tibialis anterior muscles. We conclude that the soleus muscle receives short latency excitatory inputs from cortico-spinal axons activated by TMS, with a conduction time similar to that for the tibialis anterior. Such short latency cortico-spinal connections to the soleus muscle may become functionally effective only during maximum enhancement of motoneuronal excitability by muscle contraction.
Task-related changes in the effect of magnetic brain stimulation on spinal neurones in man
The Journal of physiology, 1993
1. The effect of magnetic stimulation of the human motor cortex on the excitability of soleus, tibialis anterior and flexor carpi radialis motoneurones was investigated by H reflex testing in ten healthy subjects. 2. At rest, an early facilitation of the flexor capri radialis and tibialis anterior H reflexes was always seen, whereas a similar early facilitation of the soleus H reflex was seen in only two out of seven subjects. For all three motoneuronal pools the facilitation was curtailed 1-5 ms later by an inhibition which lasted for another 3-4 ms. In five subjects an inhibition without any evidence of an earlier facilitation was seen for the soleus H reflex. 3. The intensity of the magnetic stimulation was subsequently decreased so that it had no effect on the H reflex at rest. When the subject then performed a voluntary agonist contraction a facilitatory effect with an early onset and a duration of 20-25 ms was observed for all three muscles. When the subject performed a volunt...
Clinical Neurophysiology, 2001
Objectives: We studied the origin and underlying mechanism of the soleus late response (SLR) at a mean latency of 90 ms following transcranial magnetic stimulation. Methods: The soleus primary response (SPR) and SLR were recorded from the soleus (SOL) muscle in 27 normal subjects under various conditions using a double-cone coil. We also tested 28 patients demonstrating neurological disorders with postural disturbance. Results: The amplitude of the SPR gradually increased and its latency gradually decreased against the voluntary contraction (0-80%) of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle. In contrast, the SLR amplitude was the greatest at a 20% TA contraction while the SLR latency was the shortest at a 40% TA contraction. The preactivation of SOL enhanced the SPR response but did not evoke the SLR. The SPR amplitude was significantly augmented while standing, however, the SLR amplitude tended to decrease. The SLR was never obtained following the stimulation of the brainstem, lumbar roots and peroneal nerve. The SLR was abnormal in patients with cerebellar ataxia and Parkinson's disease while the SPR was normal. Conclusions: A lack of any correlation between the SPR and SLR suggests that the SLR does not originate in the corticospinal tract. The SLR may thus be a polysynaptic response related to the postural control of the agonist and antagonist organization between the TA and SOL.
Acta physiologica Scandinavica, 2000
Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded in the tibialis anterior and soleus muscles following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex. In the soleus, the H-reflex amplitude increased with the contraction level to the same extent as that of MEPs, whereas in the tibialis anterior, the H-reflex amplitude increased significantly less than that of MEPs. The latency of the MEPs decreased with contraction, whereas this was not the case of the H-reflexes. In the tibialis anterior, the response probability of single-motor units (SMU) to TMS increased more substantially during voluntary contraction than following stimulation of the peroneal nerve. In the tibialis anterior, the response probability of SMU increased more substantially during voluntary contraction than following stimulation of the peroneal nerve. The short-latency facilitation, presumably monosynaptic of origin, of the soleus H-reflex evoked by subthreshold TMS increased as a function of the plantarflexion force. This was not the case for the heteronymous Ia facilitation of the soleus H-reflex following stimulation of the femoral nerve. It is concluded that the corticospinal input to lower limb motor neurones generated by TMS increases with the level of voluntary contraction, whereas this is true only to a limited extent for the synaptic input from Ia afferents. It is suggested that this reflects changes in the susceptibility of corticospinal cells to TMS during voluntary contraction.
2016
Reflexes have been used extensively for over a century both in the clinic and laboratory as a tool to assess functional connectivity within the spinal cord. In order to support the coordinated movement of muscles, the reflex arc is continuously under the influence of numerous peripheral and descending spinal pathways. The Hoffmann (H)-reflex is an electrically induced reflex that is analogous to the mechanically evoked stretch reflex. In this thesis we studied the H-reflex and related pathways under different conditions, such as during contraction, under general anesthesia and in Parkinson's disease, to evaluate the effect of each condition on different spinal circuits. The thesis begins by systematically characterizing the time-course of post-activation depression in the soleus muscle of healthy participants using paired-pulse reflexes. We compared the recovery of an H-reflex to a reflex root evoked potential (REP) that is elicited following transcutaneous stimulation of the lumbar spine. Each type of response (i.e. H-reflex or REP) was conditioned by either an H-reflex or an REP. Transcutaneous spinal stimulation is a relatively new technique used to augment motor activity following neurological injury. To identify the influence of muscle activation, tests were conducted in both contracted and resting states. While there were many similarities between the H-reflex and REP, transcutaneous spinal stimulation produced more post-activation depression when it was assessed using paired pulse REPs, suggesting that the pathway mediating the spinally-evoked response was more susceptible to being inhibited. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we also demonstrated that descending input can virtually eliminate post-activation depression of the H-reflex and REP.
Modulation of soleus H reflex by spinal DC stimulation in humans
Journal of Neurophysiology, 2012
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the human motor cortex induces changes in excitability within cortical and spinal circuits that occur during and after the stimulation. Recently, transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) has been shown to modulate spinal conduction properties, as assessed by somatosensory-evoked potentials, and transynaptic properties of the spinal neurons, as tested by postactivation depression of the H reflex or by the RIII nociceptive component of the flexion reflex in the lower limb. To further explore tsDCS-induced plastic changes in spinal excitability, we examined, in a double-blind crossover randomized study, the stimulus-response curves of the soleus H reflex before, during, at current offset and 15 min after anodal, cathodal, and sham tsDCS delivered at the Th11 level (2.5 mA, 15 min, 0.071 mA/cm2, 0.064 C/cm2) in 17 healthy subjects. Anodal tsDCS induced a progressive leftward shift of the recruitment curve of the soleus H ...
Journal of sports science & medicine, 2011
The electric field induced by repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation (RPMS) is able to activate muscles artificially due to the stimulation of deep intramuscular motor axons. RPMS applied to the muscle induces proprioceptive input to the central nervous system in different ways. Firstly, the indirect activation of mechanoreceptors and secondly, direct activation of afferent nerve fibers. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of RPMS applied to the soleus. Thirteen male subjects received RPMS once and were investigated before and after the treatment regarding the parameters maximal M wave (Mmax), maximal H-reflex (Hmax), Hmax/Mmax-ratio, Hmax and Mmax onset latencies and plantar flexor peak twitch torque associated with Hmax (PTH). Eleven male subjects served as controls. No significant changes were observed for Hmax and PTH of the treatment group but the Hmax/Mmax-ratio increased significantly (p = 0.015) on account of a significantly decreased Mmax (p = 0.027). Hm...
Experimental Brain Research, 1999
In a previous study where reaction-time methods were combined with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex, cortico-spinal excitability was shown to reflect time preparation. Provided that subjects can accurately estimate time, the amplitude of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) diminish progressively during the interval separating the warning signal from the response signal (i.e., the foreperiod). On the other hand, several experiments have demonstrated that the amplitude of the Hoffman (H) reflex elicited in prime movers diminishes during the foreperiod of reaction-time tasks. The aim of the present study was to compare the time course of the respective decrements of H-reflex and MEP amplitude during a constant 500-ms foreperiod. The subjects (n=8) participated in two experimental sessions. In one session, H-reflexes were induced in a tonically activated, responding hand muscle, the flexor pollicis brevis, at different times during the foreperiod of a visual-choice reaction-time task. In the other session, motor potentials were evoked in the same muscle by TMS of the motor cortex delivered in the same behavioral conditions and at the same times as in the first session. The results show that both H-reflexes and MEPs diminish in amplitude during the foreperiod, which replicates and extends previous findings. Interestingly, the time constants of the two decrements differed. There was a facilitatory effect of both electrical and magnetic stimulations on the subject's performance: reaction time was shorter for the trials during which a stimulation was delivered than for the no-stimulation trials. This facilitation was maximal when the stimulations were delivered simultaneously with the warning signal and vanished progressively with stimulation time.