Abstract
All movements are accompanied by postural reactions which ensure that the balance of the body is maintained. It has not been resolved that to what extent the primary motor cortex and corticospinal tract are involved in the control of these reactions. Here, we investigated the contribution of the corticospinal tract to the activation of the soleus (SOL) muscle in standing human subjects (n = 10) in relation to voluntary heel raise, anticipatory postural activation of the soleus muscle when the subject pulled a handle and to reflex activation of the soleus muscle when the subject was suddenly pulled forward by an external perturbation. SOL motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) increased significantly in relation to rest −75 ms prior to the onset of EMG in the heel-raise and handle-pull tasks. The short-latency facilitation of the soleus H-reflex evoked by TMS increased similarly, suggesting that the increased MEP size prior to movement was caused at least partly by increased excitability of corticospinal tract cells with monosynaptic projections to SOL motoneurones. Changes in spinal motoneuronal excitability could be ruled out since there was no significant increase of the SOL H-reflex until immediately prior to EMG onset for any of the tasks. Tibialis anterior MEPs were unaltered prior to the onset of SOL EMG activity in the handle-pull task, suggesting that the MEP facilitation was specific for the SOL muscle. No significant increase of the MEPs was observed prior to EMG onset for the external perturbation. These data suggest that the primary motor cortex is involved in activating the SOL muscle as part of an anticipatory postural reaction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belen’kii VE, Gurfinkel VS, Pal’tsev EI (1967) Control elements of voluntary movements. Biofizika 12:135–141
Bennis N, Roby-Brami A, Dufosse M, Bussel B (1996) Anticipatory responses to a self-applied load in normal subjects and hemiparetic patients. J Physiol Paris 90:27–42
Chen R, Yaseen Z, Cohen LG, Hallett M (1998) Time course of corticospinal excitability in reaction time and self-paced movements. Ann Neurol 44(3):317–25
Cheney PD, Fetz EE (1980) Functional classes of primate corticomotoneuronal cells and their relation to active force. J Neurophysiol 44:773–791
Christensen LO, Petersen N, Andersen JB, Sinkjaer T, Nielsen JB (2000) Evidence for transcortical reflex pathways in the lower limb of man. Prog Neurobiol 62:251–272
Cordo PJ, Nashner LM (1982) Properties of postural adjustments associated with rapid arm movements. J Neurophysiol 47:287–302
Crone C, Nielsen J (1989) Spinal mechanisms in man contributing to reciprocal inhibition during voluntary dorsiflexion of the foot. J Physiol 416:255–272
Crone C, Hultborn H, Mazieres L, Morin C, Nielsen J, Pierrot-Deseilligny E (1990) Sensitivity of monosynaptic test reflexes to facilitation and inhibition as a function of the test reflex size: a study in man and the cat. Exp Brain Res 81:35–45
Diedrichsen J, Verstynen T, Lehman SL, Ivry RB (2005) Cerebellar involvement in anticipating the consequences of self-produced actions during bimanual movements. J Neurophysiol 93:801–812
Iles JF, Pisini JV (1992) Cortical modulation of transmission in spinal reflex pathways of man. J Physiol 455:425–446
Massion J, Viallet F, Massarino R, Khalil R (1989) The supplementary motor area is implicated in the coordination between posture and movement in man. C R Acad Sci III 308:417–423
Morita H, Olivier E, Baumgarten J, Petersen NT, Christensen LOD, Nielsen JB (2000) Differential changes in corticospinal and Ia input to tibialis anterior and soleus motor neurones during voluntary contraction in man. Acta Physiol Scand 170(1):65–76
Nielsen J, Kagamihara Y (1993) The regulation of presynaptic inhibition during co-contraction of antagonistic muscles in man. J Physiol 464:575–593
Nielsen J, Morita H, Baumgarten J, Petersen N, Christensen LO (1999) On the comparability of H-reflexes and MEPs. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Suppl 51:93–101
Nielsen J, Petersen N (1992) Changes in motor cortex excitability preceding voluntary ramp-and-hold plantarflexion in man. Acta Physiol Scand 146:399–400
Nielsen J, Petersen N, Deuschl G, Ballegaard M (1993) Task-related changes in the effect of magnetic brain stimulation on spinal neurones in man. J. Physiol 471:223–243
Nielsen J, Petersen N, Ballegaard M (1995) Latency of effects evoked by electrical and magnetic brain stimulation in lower limb motoneurones in man. J Physiol 484:791–802
Palmer E, Cafarelli E, Ashby P (1994) The processing of human ballistic movements explored by stimulation over the cortex. J Physiol 481(pt 2):509–520
Palmer E, Downes L, Ashby P (1996) Associated postural adjustments are impaired by a lesion of the cortex. Neurology 46:471–475
Pal’tsev YI, El’ner AN (1967) Preparatory and compensatory period during voluntary movement in patients with involvement of the brain of different localizations. Biophysics 12:161–168
Petersen N, Christensen LO, Nielsen J (1998) The effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation on the soleus H reflex during human walking. J Physiol 513(pt 2):599–610
Petersen NT, Pyndt HS, Nielsen JB (2003) Investigating human motor control by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Exp Brain Res 152:1–16
Pierrot-Deseilligny E, Lacert P, Cathala HP (1971) Amplitude and variability of monosynaptic reflexes before a voluntary movement. Physiol Behav 7:495–508
Soto O, Valls Solé J, Shanahan P, Rothwell J (2006) Reduction of intracortical inhibition in soleus muscle during postural activity. J Neurophysiol 96:1711–1717
Schneider C, Lavoie BA, Barbeau H, Capaday C (2004) Timing of cortical excitability changes during the reaction time of movements superimposed on tonic motoractivity. J Appl Physiol 97:2220–2227
Taylor JL (2005) Independent control of voluntary movements and associated anticipatory postural responses in a bimanual task. Clin Neurophysiol 116:2083–2090
Ugawa Y, Rothwell JC, Day BL, Thompson PD, Marsden CD (1991) Percutaneous electrical stimulation of corticospinal pathways at the level of the pyramidal decussation in humans. Ann Neurol 29:418–427
Viallet F, Massion J, Massarino R, Khalil R (1992) Coordination between posture and movement in a bimanual load lifting task: putative role of a medial frontal region including the supplementary motor area. Exp Brain Res 88:674–684
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from the Danish Research Council, The Elsass foundation, The Novo Nordisk Foundation and The Danish Society of Multiple Sclerosis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Petersen, T.H., Rosenberg, K., Petersen, N.C. et al. Cortical involvement in anticipatory postural reactions in man. Exp Brain Res 193, 161–171 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1603-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1603-6