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Modulation of triceps surae H-reflexes as a function of the reflex activation history during standing and stepping.

The facilitatory effectiveness of spindle afferent feedback is controlled by modulation of segmental reflex excitability such that the level of muscle activation is appropriate for the task. Phase-dependent modes of reflex modulation have been well-characterized. We hypothesized that segmental reflex excitability of the triceps surae was also modulated in a manner associated with the activation history of the spindle afferents and the segmental reflex pathway during isometric contractions, standing and stepping. In the first experiment. pairs of soleus (S) H-reflexes were evoked 80 ms apart with equal strength stimuli at rest and while subjects isometrically contracted their S against loads of 10%. 20%. and 50% of their maximum voluntary efforts. The percent depression of the second H-reflex relative to the first was used as a measure of the effect of reflex activation history. At rest, the second H-reflexes were depressed an average of 73% relative to the first. The degree of depression was progressively reduced as the plantarflexion torque increased. In the second experiment, paired H-reflexes were obtained from the S and medial (MG) and lateral gastrocnemii (LG) muscles while subjects were standing and during the stance phase of step initiation. The degree of depression of the second H-reflex during standing ( > 78%) was similar in magnitude to that produced at rest in Experiment I. At the end of the stance phase of stepping. depression of the second H-reflex of all three muscles was reduced to less than 25%. We conclude that the segmental reflex excitability is modulated as a function of the reflex activation history during these tasks.

Adult↗

Reflex receptive fields for human withdrawal reflexes elicited by non-painful and painful electrical stimulation of the foot sole.

OBJECTIVES: Human withdrawal reflex receptive fields (RRFs) were assessed for 4 different electrical stimulus intensities, ranging from below the pain threshold (PTh) to up to two times the PTh intensity (0.8x, 1.2x, 1.6x, and 2.0xPTh). METHODS: Thirteen subjects participated, and the reflexes were recorded in a sitting position. The stimuli were delivered in random order to 12 positions distributed over the foot sole. Tibialis anterior (TA), gastrocnemius medialis (GM), vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps femoris (BF) reflexes were recorded. Further, knee and ankle joint angle changes were recorded. RESULTS: The strongest reflexes were seen in the TA compared with the other 3 muscles. Dorsi-flexion dominated distal to the talocrural joint corresponding to the TA receptive field area. An expansion of the RRF for the TA and GM was seen when increasing the stimulus intensity from 0.8xPTh to 1.2xPTh and from 1.2xPTh to 1.6xPTh, indicating a gradually increasing reflex threshold towards the border, where TA contraction is inappropriate in a withdrawal reaction. For the BF and VL, the borders of the RRF areas were not detected. By integrating the reflex size within the RRF (i.e. the reflex volume), gradually increasing reflexes for increasing stimulus intensity were seen in all 4 muscles tested, most clearly in the TA and GM. The subjective pain intensity correlated to the reflex volume for the TA, GM, and BF. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the highest reflex sensitivity was seen in the centre of the RRF, while the stimulus intensity needed for eliciting a reflex increased towards the receptive field border. Within the RRF, stronger reflexes were evoked for increasing stimulus intensity. The limit in the size of the receptive field size for the TA and GM supports a modular withdrawal reflex organisation.

Adult↗

Effect of rhythmic arm movement on reflexes in the legs: modulation of soleus H-reflexes and somatosensory conditioning.

During locomotor tasks such as walking, running, and swimming, the arms move rhythmically with the legs. It has been suggested that connections between the cervical and lumbosacral spinal cord may mediate some of this interlimb coordination. However, it is unclear how these interlimb pathways modulate reflex excitability during movement. We hypothesized that rhythmic arm movement would alter the gain of reflex pathways in the stationary leg. Soleus H-reflexes recorded during arm cycling were compared with those recorded at similar positions with the arms stationary. Nerve stimulation was delivered with the right arm at approximately 70 degrees shoulder flexion or 10 degrees shoulder extension. H-reflexes were evoked alone (unconditioned) or with sural or common peroneal nerve (CP) conditioning to decrease or increase soleus IA presynaptic inhibition, respectively. Both conditioning stimuli were also delivered with no H-reflex stimulation. H-reflex amplitudes were compared at similar M-wave amplitudes and activation levels of the soleus. Arm cycling significantly reduced (P < 0.05) unconditioned soleus H-reflexes at shoulder flexion by 21.7% and at shoulder extension by 8.8% compared with static controls. The results demonstrate a task-dependent modulation of soleus H-reflexes between arm cycling and stationary trials. Sural nerve stimulation facilitated H-reflexes at shoulder extension but not at shoulder flexion during static and cycling trials. CP nerve stimulation significantly reduced H-reflex amplitude in all conditions. Reflexes in soleus when sural and CP nerve stimulation were delivered alone, were not different between cycling and static trials; thus the task-dependent change in H reflex amplitude was not due to changes in motoneuron excitability. Therefore modulation occurred at a pre-motoneuronal level, probably by presynaptic inhibition of the IA afferent volley. Results indicate that neural networks coupling the cervical and lumbosacral spinal cord in humans are activated during rhythmic arm movement. It is proposed that activation of these networks may assist in reflex linkages between the arms and legs during locomotor tasks.

Adult↗

Long latency inhibition of H-reflex recovery by cutaneous tactile stimulation in man: a cutaneous transcortical reflex.

The effect of cutaneous tactile stimulation on motoneuron excitability was studied in 20 normal subjects and in patients of hemiplegia (n = 14) and paraplegia (n = 15) by plotting H-reflex recovery curves during application of twin pulses alone ("basal" H-reflex recovery curve), and twin pulses synchronized with electrical stimuli evoking tactile sensation in skin over the lateral border of the small toe. The "basal" H-reflex recovery curves from normal subjects showed a significant lateral asymmetry of motoneuron excitability, with an even distribution of subjects showing greater excitability on the left and right sides. However, there was no relation between handedness and the side with greater excitability. The cutaneous stimulation produced a highly significant inhibition of the H-reflex recovery between 600 and 6000 ms, with the maximum inhibition recorded at 1000 and 2000 ms, at which time even a complete inhibition of the test H-reflex was observed in some instances. The effect of cutaneous stimulation before 600 ms was statistically insignificant. The amount of cutaneous inhibition of H-reflex recovery showed a lateral asymmetry. The side with greater motoneuron excitability showed more cutaneous inhibition of the H-reflex recovery. A comparison of the H-reflex recovery at higher frequencies of cutaneous stimulation with that at basal frequency showed a slight but statistically insignificant difference in the amount of cutaneous inhibition of the H-reflex recovery. In hemiplegics, the "basal" H-reflex recovery curves showed greater motoneuron excitability on the affected side as compared to those of the unaffected side or controls, with the late inhibitory phase being completely obliterated. A similar pattern was also observed in paraplegics. Significantly, the lateral asymmetry of motoneuron excitability observed in the control group was absent in paraplegics. The cutaneous stimulation failed to produce any significant effect on the H-reflex recovery curves either in the affected side of hemiplegics or in both sides of paraplegics. The significant long latency inhibition of the H-reflex recovery curve produced by cutaneous tactile stimulation is a new finding.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Stretch reflex and Hoffmann reflex responses to osteopathic manipulative treatment in subjects with Achilles tendinitis.

CONTEXT: Irvin M. Korr, PhD, hypothesized that sensitivity of the monosynaptic stretch reflex (ie, deep tendon reflex) plays a major role in the restriction-of-motion characteristic of somatic dysfunction, and that restoration of range of motion through osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) could be achieved by resetting of the stretch receptor gain. OBJECTIVE: To test Korr's hypothesis in the context of Achilles tendinitis, examining whether OMT applied to patients with Achilles tendinitis reduces the strength of the stretch reflex. METHODS: Subjects were recruited through public advertisements and referrals from healthcare professionals. There were no recruitment restrictions based on demographic factors. Amplitudes for stretch reflex and H-reflex (Hoffmann reflex) in the triceps surae muscles (the soleus together with the lateral and medial heads of the gastrocnemius) were measured in subjects with diagnosed Achilles tendonitis (n=16), both before and after OMT. These measurements were also made in asymptomatic control subjects (n=15) before and after sham manipulative treatment. RESULTS: As predicated on the concepts of the strain-counterstrain model developed by Lawrence H. Jones, DO, the use of OMT produced a 23.1% decrease in the amplitude of the stretch reflex of the soleus (P<.05) in subjects with Achilles tendinitis. Similarly significant responses were measured in the lateral and medial heads of the gastrocnemius in OMT subjects. The H-reflex was not significantly affected by OMT. In control subjects, neither reflex was significantly affected by sham manipulative treatment. By using a rating scale on questionnaires before treatment and daily for 7 days posttreatment, OMT subjects indicated significant clinical improvement in soreness, stiffness, and swelling. CONCLUSION: The reduction of stretch reflex amplitude with OMT, together with no change in H-reflex amplitude, is consistent with Korr's proprioceptive hypothesis for somatic dysfunction and patient treatment. Because subjects' soreness ratings also declined immediately after treatment, decreased nociceptor activity may play an additional role in somatic dysfunction, perhaps by altering stretch reflex amplitude.

Achilles Tendon↗

Sensitivity of monosynaptic test reflexes to facilitation and inhibition as a function of the test reflex size: a study in man and the cat.

In parallel experiments on humans and in the cat it was investigated how the sensitivity of monosynaptic test reflexes to facilitation and inhibition varies as a function of the size of the control test reflex itself. In man the monosynaptic reflex (the Hoffmann reflex) was evoked in either the soleus muscle (by stimulation of the tibial nerve) or the quadriceps muscle (by stimulation of the femoral nerve). In the decerebrate cat monosynaptic reflexes were recorded from the nerves to soleus and medial gastrocnemius muscles; they were evoked by stimulation of the proximal ends of the sectioned L7 and S1 dorsal roots. Various excitatory and inhibitory spinal reflex pathways were used for conditioning the test reflexes (e.g. monosynaptic Ia excitation, disynaptic reciprocal inhibition, cutaneous inhibition, recurrent inhibition, presynaptic inhibition of the Ia fibres mediating the test reflex). It was shown that the additional number of motoneurones recruited in a monosynaptic test reflex by a constant excitatory conditioning stimulus was very much dependent on the size of the test reflex itself. This dependency had the same characteristic pattern whatever the conditioning stimulus. With increasing size of the test reflex the number of additionally recruited motoneurones first increased, then reached a peak (or plateau) and finally decreased. A similar relation was also seen with inhibitory conditioning stimuli. The basic physiological factors responsible for these findings are discussed. Finally, the implications for the interpretation of experiments in man with the H-reflex technique are considered.

Adolescent↗

Operant conditioning of primate spinal reflexes: the H-reflex.

The study of primate memory substrates, the CNS alterations which preserve conditioned responses, requires an experimental model that fulfills two criteria. First, the essential alterations must be in a technically accessible location. Second, they must persist without input from other CNS regions. The spinal cord is the most technically accessible and readily isolated portion of the primate CNS. Recent work has demonstrated that the spinal stretch reflex (SSR), the initial, wholly segmental response to muscle stretch, can be operantly conditioned and suggests that this conditioning may produce persistent spinal alteration. The present study attempted similar operant conditioning of the H-reflex, the electrical analog of the SSR. The primary goals were to demonstrate that spinal reflex conditioning can occur even if the muscle spindle is removed from the reflex arc and to demonstrate conditioning in the lumbosacral cord, which is far preferable to the cervical cord for future studies of neuronal and synaptic mechanisms. Nine monkeys prepared with chronic fine-wire triceps surae (gastrocnemius and soleus) electromyographic (EMG) electrodes were taught by computer to maintain a given level of background EMG activity. At random times, a voltage pulse just above M response (direct muscle response) threshold was delivered to the posterior tibial nerve via a chronically implanted silicon nerve cuff and elicited the triceps surae H-reflex. Under the control mode, reward always followed. Under the HR increases or HR decreases mode, reward followed only if the absolute value of triceps surae EMG from 12 to 22 ms after the pulse (the H-reflex interval) was above (HR increases) or below (HR decreases) a set value. Monkeys completed 3,000-6,000 trials/day over study periods of 2-3 mo. Background EMG and M response amplitude remained stable throughout data collection. H-reflex amplitude remained stable under the control mode. Under the HR increases mode (5 animals) or HR decreases mode (4 animals), H-reflex amplitude (EMG amplitude in the H-reflex interval minus background EMG amplitude) changed appropriately over at least 6 wk. Change appeared to occur in two phases: an abrupt change within the first day, followed by slower change, which continued indefinitely. Change occurred in all three triceps surae muscles (medial and lateral gastrocnemii and soleus). Under the HR increases mode, H-reflex amplitude rose to an average of 213% of control, whereas under the HR decreases mode it fell to an average of 68% of control. The results demonstrate that the H-reflex can be operantly conditioned.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

The influence of muscle spindle discharge on the human H reflex and the monosynaptic reflex in the cat.

1. Experiments were carried out to test the effect of changes in spindle resting discharge on the size of monosynaptic reflexes in the cat and on the H reflex in humans. Resting discharge was altered by contracting the triceps surae muscle at longer (hold-long) or shorter (hold-short) lengths than that at which the reflex was tested. 2. The reflex in the cat was larger after hold-long than after hold-short conditioning, and the difference, after an initial decline, was well maintained. For the human H reflex a similar pattern was observed except that 15 s after muscle conditioning the difference in reflex size had disappeared. 3. Monosynaptic reflex depression immediately after hold-long conditioning, when most of the muscle spindles are silent, was attributed to the high level of spindle discharge during the immediately preceding hold-long period. The time course of this inhibition was too long to be accounted for by presynaptic inhibition. 4. In the cat heteronymous muscle conditioning was used to test whether presynaptic inhibition could be responsible for reflex depression using the synergist muscle pair lateral gastrocnemius-soleus and medial gastrocnemius. Conditioning one of the pair did not affect the reflex in the other, the opposite result to that expected with presynaptic inhibition. A similar experiment in which the triceps H reflex in human subjects was facilitated by a quadriceps volley gave the same result. 5. Thus this study presents evidence that monosynaptic reflexes are depressed by the on-going discharge of muscle spindles in the homonymous muscle, but that this depression does not appear to involve "classical' presynaptic inhibition.

Adult↗

[Evaluation of the morphology of stapedial reflex in otosclerosis. Provoked otosclerotic stapedial reflex].

Stapedial reflex is used, amongst other pathologies, for the study of otosclerosis. In this retrospective study we have collected 188 cases of patients with otosclerosis whose diagnosis has been confirmed surgically and their first line relatives. We have performed a descriptive analysis of audiometric tests, tympanometries and ipsilateral stapedial reflexes in relation with the evolutive phase of the disease. Transmission hypoacusis has been seen in 54%, mixed hypoacusis in 29% and sensorineural hypoacusis 8% of cases. On and OFF stapedial reflexes have been seen in 18%, inverted reflexes in 46% and absent reflexes in 27% of cases. The original drawings of the different types of reflexes during the evolution of otosclerosis can be seen in the four figures shown in the study: normal reflexes; ON and OFF a, b and c types; inverted a and b; and absent reflexes. The clinical evolutive phase and the audiometric and impedance tests have been correlated. Through Chi-square (p < 0.001), we have obtained a statistical significance in relation to the use of stapedial reflexes. Also it has been suggested the use of provoked stapedial reflexes in patients with sub clinical otosclerosis in order to diagnose the disease. We conclude that the knowledge of the evolutive morphology os stapedial reflexes in otosclerosis helps diagnostic capacity.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗

Effect of chronic and acute cigarette smoking on the pharyngo-upper oesophageal sphincter contractile reflex and reflexive pharyngeal swallow.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is known to affect adversely the defence mechanisms against gastro-oesophageal reflux. The effect of smoking on the supraoesophageal reflexes that prevent aspiration of gastric contents has not been previously studied. AIMS: To elucidate the effect of cigarette smoking on two of the supraoesophageal reflexes: the pharyngo-upper oesophageal sphincter (UOS) contractile reflex; and the reflexive pharyngeal swallow. METHODS: Ten chronic smokers and 10 non-smokers were studied, before and 10 minutes after real or simulated smoking, respectively. UOS pressure and threshold volume for the reflexes were determined using a UOS sleeve assembly. Two modes of fluid delivery into the pharynx were tested: rapid injection and slow injection. RESULTS: For both rapid and slow injections, the threshold volume for triggering the pharyngo-UOS contractile reflex was significantly higher in smokers than in non-smokers (rapid: smokers 0.42 (SE 0.07) ml, non-smokers 0.16 (0. 04) ml; slow: smokers 0.86 (0.06) ml, non-smokers 0.38 (0.1) ml; p<0. 05). During rapid injection, the threshold volume for reflexive pharyngeal swallow was higher in smokers (smokers 0.94 (0.09) ml, non-smokers 0.46 (0.05) ml; p<0.05). Acute smoking further increased the threshold volume for the pharyngo-UOS contractile reflex and reflexive pharyngeal swallow during rapid injection. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking adversely affects stimulation of the pharyngo-UOS contractile reflex and pharyngeal reflexive swallow. These findings may have implications in the development of reflux related respiratory complications among smokers.

Adult↗

[Cutaneo-muscular reflexes of the human hand. II. Neurophysiologic aspects of reflex organization and coordination].

The organization and coordination of cutaneo-muscular reflexes of human finger and arm muscles to electrical stimulation of the digital nerves were investigated in 14 healthy volunteers. Thumb and finger muscles, although antagonists, showed homonymous reflex effects whereas the wrist and elbow muscles exhibited an reciprocally alternating reflex pattern in pairs of antagonists (Fig. 1). The mechanographical correlate of the homonymous reflex activity in distal muscles was a short release (Fig. 6). The receptive field for evoking such reflex effects covered both the palmar and dorsal surfaces of the fingers (Fig. 2). However, with stimulation of the thumb, the muscles of the fingers and of the wrist showed reflex reversal (Figs 3, 5). If the stimulus was moved from the second to the fifth fingers, a successive attenuation of the transcortical reflex component was seen (Fig. 4). It is concluded that the reflexes investigated are complex flexor reflexes comprising both a distal release and a proximal flexion synergy. According to opposition of the thumb in grasping, the receptive field terminates between thumb and index finger. These reflexes are supposed to have no assisting function during corticalized manipulatory movements--in contrast to the long-loop reflexes evoked by epicritic sensibility. The transcortical servo is blocked if the eliciting stimulus is contaminated by nociceptive signals; its receptive field is confined to those fingers used in the precision grip.

Adult↗

Operant conditioning of primate triceps surae H-reflex produces reflex asymmetry.

Monkeys are able to increase or decrease triceps surae H-reflex when reward depends on reflex amplitude. Operantly conditioned change occurs over weeks and produces persistent alterations in the lumbosacral spinal cord which should be technically accessible substrates of primate memory. Previous work monitored and conditioned triceps surae H-reflex in one leg. To determine whether H-reflex conditioning in one leg affects the control leg, the present study monitored H-reflexes in both legs while the reflex in one leg underwent HR increases or HR decreases conditioning. Under the HR increases mode, H-reflex increase was much greater in the HR increases leg than in the control leg. Under the HR decreases mode, H-reflex decrease was confined to the HR decreases leg. By showing that conditioning of one leg's H-reflex produces H-reflex asymmetry, the data further define the phenomenon and indicate that the other leg can serve as an internal control for physiologic and anatomic studies exploring the sites and mechanisms of the spinal cord memory substrates.

Animals↗

Babinski reflex and the CUT reflex--a comparative study.

The Babinski reflex and the CUT reflex were examined in 150 neurological patients and 20 controls. A positive CUT reflex occurred more frequently than a positive Babinski reflex in the patient material as a whole, and in different diagnostic groups. However, there was a low grade of correspondence between a positive CUT reflex and a positive Babinski reflex. There were many positive CUT reflexes in the group of normal persons. In a number of cases the examination of the CUT reflex was impossible because of lack of strength or incooperability. The study indicates that the CUT reflex and the Babinski reflex are not comparable phenomena.

Adolescent↗

The plantar cushion reflex circuit: an oligosynaptic cutaneous reflex.

1. Reflex toe extension elicited by pressure on the plantar cushion (PC) was studied in cats anaesthetized with Dial. Receptive fields and adequate stimuli for the reflex were evaluated. It was concluded that the receptors for the reflex were chiefly cutaneous pressure receptors in PC.2. The fastest impulses from the PC receptors for this reflex are conducted to the spinal cord at about 64 m/sec via fibres about 10-11 mum in diameter, i.e. the largest afferent fibres from PC. The motoneurones active in the reflex mainly supplied the intrinsic plantar muscles. Most active axons ran in the S1 ventral root.3. Extracellular recordings of interneurones in the dorsal horn of L7 spinal segment revealed that many units at the medial edge of the dorsal horn, chiefly in Rexed's laminae IV and V, were activated by stimuli similar to those eliciting the PC-toe extension reflex. These were termed intermediate threshold PC units. Some of these medially located units were activated monosynaptically by PC stimulation. Intermediate threshold PC units activated disynaptically or polysynaptically were also found in this medial region of the dorsal horn, as well as ventrolaterally and caudally in lamina V.4. No intermediate threshold PC units sent axons into dorsolateral ipsilateral thoracic white matter, in contrast to lower threshold PC units, 42% of which were driven by lateral column stimulation.5. Extracellular and intracellular recordings were made from motoneurones activated by adequate stimuli for the reflex. Minimum latencies of EPSPs revealed that, for the fastest component of the reflex, at most two interneurones could be interposed between a primary sensory neurone and a motoneurone.6. Although convergence of low threshold PC units on to intermediate threshold PC units or on to motoneurones may play a part in the PC-toe extension reflex, it appears probable that the two populations of intermediate threshold PC interneurones described above, that is, the monosynaptic and the disynaptic (with higher order interneurones), mediate the reflex.

Action Potentials↗

Interaction between the vestibulo-collic reflex and the cervico-collic stretch reflex in the decerebrate cat.

1. Interactions between the sagittal vestibulo-collic reflex (v.c.r.) and the cervico-collic stretch reflex (c.c.r.) have been studied in the neck extensor muscles biventer cervicis (b.c.) in the decerebrate cat. The v.c.r. was evoked by a 'standard' vestibular stimulus consisting of a sinusoidal nose-up, nose-down head movement of 6-8 deg amplitude at 1 Hz. The c.c.r. was evoked by sinusoidal stretching of the b.c. muscles at 1 Hz. The amplitude of muscle stretching, and its phase in relation to head movement, were systematically varied. 2. When muscle stretching was applied in phase with head movement (so that the muscles were stretched as the head moved in the nose-down direction), the gain of the combined (v.c.r. + c.c.r.) reflex in the b.c. muscles increased above that of the v.c.r. If the muscle stretching was applied out of phase with head movement (so that the muscles shortened as the head moved downward), the gain of the combined reflex was reduced to a value below that of the v.c.r. 3. The effects on the gain of the combined reflex varied in proportion to the amplitude of muscle stretching. The gain and phase of the combined reflex is modelled reasonably well by a linear vectorial addition between the v.c.r. and the c.c.r. over a wide range of amplitudes of muscle stretching. The linear summation model contains a proportionality constant K, which may represent a factor by which the two reflexes are 'calibrated' against each other. 4. If one of the b.c. muscles was held at a fixed length and the other stretched sinusoidally, the c.c.r. was evoked only in the stimulated muscle. Vestibular stimulation then summed with the c.c.r in the stimulated muscle, while on the contralateral side the reflex response was the same as that of the v.c.r. alone. It would appear therefore that the motoneurone pools of the b.c. muscles are organized as independent entities without mutually excitatory or inhibitory reflex linkages. This arrangement presumably allows flexibility in the supraspinal control of the b.c. muscles, which are often used either as synergists during sagittal head movement or as antagonists during horizontal or roll movements of the head. 5. The interaction between the v.c.r. and the c.c.r. results in an apparent 'servo-assistance' role for the muscle afferent feed-back from the b.c. muscles, amplifying or attenuating the reflex response of the muscles to a given head movement.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗