Non-neural Muscle Weakness Has Limited Influence on Complexity of Motor Control during Gait.

ABSTRACT: Cerebral palsy (CP) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are neuromuscular disorders characterized by muscle weakness. Weakness in CP has neural and non-neural components, whereas in DMD, weakness can be considered as a predominantly non-neural problem. Despite the different underlying causes, weakness is a constraint for the central nervous system when controlling gait. CP demonstrates decreased complexity of motor control during gait from muscle synergy analysis, which is reflected by a higher total variance accounted for by one synergy (tVAF₁). However, it remains unclear if weakness directly contributes to higher tVAF₁ in CP, or whether altered tVAF₁ reflects mainly neural impairments. If muscle weakness directly contributes to higher tVAF₁,

SUBMITTER: Goudriaan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5797794 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature