Abstract
Hammond [27, 28] originally described electromyographic (EMG) responses of long latency, which were evoked 50 ms later than the stretch reflex, when the biceps brachii muscle was suddenly extended and the subject was instructed to resist the displacement. These EMG responses were considered to be “automatic” in nature, for their latency was 40 ms shorter than the fastest voluntary reaction to a mechanical stimulus. There has been a long controversy as to the possible pathway and generators as well as the function of “long-loop reflexes” (for reviews see [8, 12, 13, 57]). Despite the fact that different types of EMG responses can be evoked from finger, hand, arm, and leg muscles labelled with a varying terminology, there are some common features of these long-latency responses. The best way to generate them is a sudden angular displacement of the joint with a certain minimal velocity and duration [5, 8, 34]. Prestretching or loading of the stretched muscle is required but can be replaced by an instruction given to the subject to resist the imposed displacement. Functional requirements obviously determine strength and temporal pattern of these responses [15, 30].
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ackermann H, Diener HC, Dichgans J (1985) Diagnostische Bedeutung von Long loop-Reflexen bei spinalen Läsionen. EEG EMG 16: 35
Allum JHJ, Pfaltz CR (1985) Visual and vestibular contributions to pitch sway stabilization in the ankle muscles of normals and patients with bilateral peripheral vestibular deficits. Exp Brain Res 58: 82–94
Angel RW (1982) Shortening reaction in normal and parkinsonian subjects. Neurology (Ny) 32: 246–251
Bathien N, Toma S, Rondot P (1981) Etude de la réaction de raccourcissement présente chez l’homme dans diverses affections neurologiques. Rôle des afférences articulaires. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 51: 156–164
Berardelli A, Hallett M, Kaufman C, Fine E, Berenberg W, Simon SR (1982) Stretch reflexes of triceps surae in normal man. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 45: 513–525
Berardelli A, Sabra AF, Hallett M (1983a) Physiological mechanisms of rigidity in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 46: 45–53
Berardelli A, Sabra AF, Hallett M, Berenberg W, Simon SR (1983b) Stretch reflexes of triceps surae in patients with upper motor neuron syndromes. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 46: 54–60
Chan CWY (1983) Segmental versus suprasegmental contributions to long-latency stretch responses in man. In: Desmedt JE (ed) Motor control mechanisms in health and disease. Raven, New York, pp 467–487
Chan CWY, Kearney RE, Melvill Jones G (1979a) Tibialis anterior responses to sudden ankle displacements in normal and Parkinsonian subjects. Brain Res 173: 303–314
Chan CWY, Melvill Jones G, Kearney RE, Watt DGD (1979b) The “late” electromyographic response to limb displacement in man. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 46: 173–181
Cheney PD, Fetz EE (1984) Corticomotoneural cells contribute to long-latency stretch reflexes in the rhesus monkey. J Physiol (Lond) 349: 249–272
Desmedt JE (ed) (1978) Cerebral motor control in man: long loop mechanisms. Karger, Basel
Desmedt JE (ed) (1983) Motor control mechanisms in health and disease. Raven, New York
Dichgans J, Diener HC (1985) Clinical evidence for functional compartmentalization of the cerebellum. In: Bloedel JR, Dichgans J, Precht W (eds) Cerebellar functions. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 126–147
Diener HC, Bootz F, Dichgans J, Bruzek W (1983) Variability of postural “reflexes” in humans. Exp Brain Res 52: 423–428
Diener HC, Dichgans J, Bacher M, Guschlbauer B (1984a) Characteristic alterations of long loop “reflexes” in patients with Friedreich’s ataxia and late atrophy of the anterior cerebellar lobe. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 47: 679–685
Diener HC, Dichgans J, Bacher M, Guschlbauer B (1984b) Improvement of ataxia in late cortical cerebellar atrophy through alcohol abstinence. J Neurol 231: 258–262
Diener HC, Dichgans J, Bootz F, Bacher M (1984c) Early stabilization of human posture after a sudden disturbance: influence of rate and amplitude of displacement. Exp Brain Res 56: 126–134
Diener HC, Dichgans J, Guschlbauer B, Mau H (1984d) The significance of proprioception on postural stabilization as assessed by ischemia. Brain Res 296: 103–109
Diener HC, Dichgans J, Hülser PJ, Buettner UW, Bacher M, Guschlbauer B (1984e) The significance of long loop “reflexes” for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 57: 336–342
Diener HC, Ackermann H, Dichgans J, Guschlbauer B (1985) Medium-and long-latency responses to displacements of the ankle joint in patients with spinal and central lesions. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 60: 407–416
Eklund G, Hagbarth KE, Hagglund JU, Wallin EU (1982) Mechanical oscillations contributing to the segmentation of the reflex electromyogram response to stretching human muscles. J Physiol 326: 65–77
Friedemann HH, Noth J, Diener HC, Bacher M (1987) Long-latency EMG responses in hand and leg muscles. I. Cerebellar disorders. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 50: 71–77
Ghez C, Shinoda Y (1978) Spinal mechanisms of the functional stretch reflex. Exp Brain Res 32: 55–68
Gottlieb GL, Agarwal CG (1979) Response to sudden torques about the ankle in man: Myotatic reflex. J Neurophysiol 42: 91–105
Hagbarth KE, Hägglund JV, Wallin EU, Young KK (1981) Grouped spindle and electromyographic responses to abrupt wrist extension movements in man J Physiol 312: 81–96
Hammond PH (1956) The influence of prior instruction to the subject on an apparently involuntary neuromuscular response. J Physiol (Lond) 122: 17P - 18 P
Hammond PH (1960) An experimental study of servo action in human muscular control. Proceedings: Illyd Int Conference on Medical Electronics:190–199. Institution of Electrical Engineers, London
Hendrie A, Lee RG (1978) Selective effects of vibration on human spinal and long loop reflexes. Brain Res 157: 369–375
Hore J, Vilis T (1985) A cerebellar-dependent efference copy mechanism for generating appropriate muscle responses to limb perturbations. In: Bloedel JR, Dichgans J, Precht W (eds) Cerebellar functions. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 24–35
Hultborn H, Wigström H (1980) Motor response with long latency and maintained duration evoked by activity in Ia afferents. In: Desmedt JE (ed) Spinal and supra-spinal mechanisms of voluntary motor control and locomotion. Karger, Basel, pp 99–116
Katz R, Rondot P (1978) Muscle reaction to passive shortening in normal man. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 45: 90–99
Lee RG, Tatton WG (1975) Motor responses to sudden limb displacements in primates with specific CNS lesions and in human patients with motor system disorders. Can J Neurol Sci 2: 285–293
Lee RG, Tatton WG (1982) Long-latency reflexes to imposed displacements of the human wrist: dependence on duration of movement. Exp Brain Res 45: 207–216
Lee RG, Murphy JT, Tatton WG (1983) Long-latency myotatic reflexes in man• mechanisms, functional significance and changes in patients with Parkinson’s disease or hemiplegia. In: Desmedt JE (ed) Motor control mechanism in health and disease. Raven, New York, pp 489–508
Lenz FA, Tatton WG, Tasker RR (1983a) Electromyographic response to displacement of different forelimb joints in the squirrel monkey. J Neurosci 3: 783–794
Lenz FA, Tatton WG, Tasker RR (1983b) The effect of cortical lesions on the electromyographic response to joint displacement in the squirrel monkey forelimb. J Neurosci 3: 795–805
Marsden CD, Merton PA, Morton HB (1973) Latency measurements compatible with a cortical pathway for the stretch reflex in man. J Physiol 230: 58–59
Marsden CD, Merton PA, Morton HB, Adam J (1978) The effect of lesions of the central nervous system on long-latency stretch reflexes in the human thumb. In: Desmedt JE (ed) Cerebral motor control in man: long loop mechanisms. Karger, Basel, pp 334–341
Matthews PBC (1984) Evidence from the use of vibration that the human long-latency stretch reflex depends upon spindle secondary afferents. J Physiol 348: 383–415
Mauritz KH, Schmitt C, Dichgans J (1981) Delayed and enhanced long-latency reflexes as the possible cause of postural tremor in late cerebellar atrophy. Brain 104: 97–116
Miller AD, Brooks VB (1981) Late muscular responses to arm perturbations persist during supraspinal dysfunctions in monkeys. Exp Brain Res 41: 146–158
Nashner LM (1983) Analysis of movement control in man using the movable platform. In: Desmedt JE (ed) Motor control mechanisms in health and disease. Raven, New York, pp 607–619
Noth J, Engel L, Friedemann HH, Lange HW (1984) Evoked potentials in patients with Huntington’s disease and their offspring. I. Somatosensory evoked potentials. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 59: 134–141
Noth J, Podoll K, Friedemann HH (1985) Long-loop reflexes in small hand muscles studied in normal subjects and in patients with Huntington’s disease. Brain 108: 65–80
Oepen G, Doerr M, Thoden U (1981) Visual (VEP) and somatosensory ( SSEP) evoked potentials in Huntington’s chorea. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 51: 666–670
Rondot P, Metral S (1973) Analysis of the shortening reaction in man In• Desmedt JE (ed) New developments in electromyography and clinical neurophysiology. Karger, Basel, pp 629–634
Rothwell JC, Obeso JA, Traub MM, Marsden CD (1983) The behaviour of the long-latency stretch reflex in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 46: 35–41
Scholz E, Diener HC, Noth J, Friedemann H, Dichgans J, Bacher M (1986) Long-latency EMG responses in leg muscles. II. Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 50: 66–70
Struppler F, Lehmann-Horn F, Klein W, Lucking CH, Deuschl G (1984) Effect of stereoencephalotomy on long-latency EMG responses and motor control of arm movements in Parkinson’s syndrome. Adv Neurol 40: 437–445
Tatton WG, Lee RG (1975) Evidence for abnormal long-loop reflexes in rigid parkinsonian patients. Brain Res 100: 671–676
Tatton WG, Fomer SD, Gerstein GL, Chambers WW, Lin CM (1975) The effect of postural lesions on motor responses to sudden upper limb displacement in monkeys. Brain Res 96: 108–113
Tatton WG, Bedingham W, Verrier MC, Blair RDG (1984) Characteristic alterations in responses to imposed wrist displacements in parkinsonian rigidity and dystonia musculorum deformans. Can J Neurol Sci 11: 281–287
Tracey DJ, Walmsley B, Brinkman J (1980) Long-loop reflexes can be obtained in spinal monkeys. Neurosci Lett 18: 59–65
Verrier MC, Tatton WG, Blair RDG (1984) Characteristics of EMG responses to imposed limb displacement in patients with vascular hemiplegia. Can J Neurol Sci 11: 288–296
Westphal C (1880) Über eine Art paradoxer Muskelkontraktion. Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr 10: 243–248
Wiesendanger M, Miles TS (1982) Ascending pathway to low-threshold muscle afferents to the cerebral cortex and its possible role in motor control. Physiol Rev 62: 1234–1270
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Dichgans, J., Diener, H.C. (1987). The Use of Short- and Long-Latency Reflex Testing in Leg Muscles of Neurological Patients. In: Struppler, A., Weindl, A. (eds) Clinical Aspects of Sensory Motor Integration. Advances in Applied Neurological Sciences, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71540-2_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71540-2_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-71542-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-71540-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive