Cosine tuning determines plantarflexors' activities during human upright standing and is affected by incomplete spinal cord injury.

ABSTRACT: Plantarflexors such as the soleus (SOL) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) play key roles in controlling bipedal stance; however, how the central nervous system controls the activation levels of these plantarflexors is not well understood. Here we investigated how the central nervous system controls the plantarflexors' activation level during quiet standing in a cosine tuning manner where the maximal activation is achieved in a preferred direction (PD). Furthermore, we investigated how spinal cord injury affects these plantarflexors' activations. Thirteen healthy adults (AB) and thirteen individuals with chronic, incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) performed quiet standing trials. Their body kinematics and kinetics as well as electromyography signals from the MG and SOL were recorded. In the A

SUBMITTER: Fok KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7311727 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature