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Entrainment to extinction of physiological tremor by spindle afferent input

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Abstract

In this study the systematic modulation of wrist flexor muscle activity by imposed joint movement was examined. Ten subjects maintained a constant contraction level (25% of the maximum; trial duration: 20 s) in flexor carpi radialis while their wrists were perturbed with 50 different quasi-sinusoidal signals (frequency range: 0.5–9.5 Hz; amplitude: 0.3–4.2°). The frequency spectra of wrist position and the rectified and filtered electromyogram (EMG) were determined. The muscle activity was only weakly entrained to imposed movements of small amplitude and low frequency, as shown by a small peak in the EMG spectrum at the frequency of movement, while the most prominent peak in the spectrum was between 9 and 15 Hz, corresponding to the frequency range of physiological tremor. The entrainment of muscle activity increased markedly as the amplitude and frequency of the imposed movement increased, to the point of saturation of modulation and harmonic peaks in the spectrum. In parallel with this increase in entrainment, the 9–15 Hz tremor peak was progressively extinguished. The results are consistent with a coupled oscillator model in which the central oscillatory source(s) of tremor became fully entrained to the imposed movement at the highest amplitudes and frequencies. Such coupling depends on communication between the external forcing oscillator and the central oscillator(s), the I a afferent signal from the imposed movement being the most likely candidate to provide the entraining signal for the central oscillator(s).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, PO Box 170, 1825, Lidcombe, NSW, Australia

    Ian Cathers

  2. Exercise and Sport Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Nicholas O’Dwyer

  3. Neuroengineering Laboratory, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Peter Neilson

Authors
  1. Ian Cathers
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  2. Nicholas O’Dwyer
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  3. Peter Neilson
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Correspondence to Ian Cathers.

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Cathers, I., O’Dwyer, N. & Neilson, P. Entrainment to extinction of physiological tremor by spindle afferent input. Exp Brain Res 171, 194–203 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-0258-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-0258-9

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