Abstract
We used unilateral plantar–flexor muscles fatigue to assess the capacity of the central nervous system to adapt quiet two-legged stance control to a unilateral ankle neuromuscular perturbation. Eighteen young healthy adults stood barefoot with their eyes closed and were asked to sway as little as possible. The Experimental group (n = 9) executed this postural task in two conditions, before (pre-test) and following the completion of a fatiguing exercise designed to induce a muscular fatigue in the plantar–flexor muscles of their dominant leg (post-test). For the Control group (n = 9), this fatiguing exercise was replaced with a standing rest period corresponding to the fatiguing exercise. Results of the Experimental group showed no significant difference between the weight-bearing index measured in the pre-test condition and that observed in the post-test condition. Results further revealed that unilateral plantar–flexor muscles fatigue yielded different effects on the centre of foot pressure (CoP) displacements under the non-fatigued leg and under the fatigued leg: a wider surface area of the CoP displacements was observed under the non-fatigued than under the fatigued leg, and a higher mean speed of the CoP displacements was observed under the non-fatigued leg only in the post-test relative to the pre-test condition. These findings evidenced that the contribution of each leg to the control of quiet two-legged stance is modified as a result of muscle fatigue of unilateral plantar–flexor muscles. The greater contribution of the non-fatigued leg could be viewed as a fatigue-induced adaptive change in the control of quiet two-legged stance in response to an alteration of the unilateral ankle neuromuscular function induced by unilateral plantar–flexor muscles fatigue.
References
Anker LC, Weerdesteyn V, van Nes IJ, Nienhuis B, Straatman H, Geurts AC (2008) The relation between postural stability and weight distribution in healthy subjects. Gait Posture 27:471–477
Berger LL, Regueme SC, Forestier N (2009) Unilateral lower limb muscle fatigue induces bilateral effects on undisturbed stance and muscle EMG activities. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2009.09.006
Borg G (1990) Psychological scaling with applications in physical work and the perception of exertion. Scand J Work Environ Health 16:55–58
Côté JN, Mathieu PA, Levin MF, Feldman AG (2002) Movement reorganization to compensate for fatigue during sawing. Exp Brain Res 146:394–398
De Haart M, Geurts AC, Huidekoper SC, Fasotti L, van Limbeek J (2004) Recovery of standing balance in postacute stroke patients: a rehabilitation cohort study. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 85:886–895
Duclos C, Roll R, Kavounoudias A, Roll JP, Forget R (2007) Vibration-induced post-effects: a means to improve postural asymmetry in lower leg amputees? Gait Posture 26:595–602
Duclos C, Roll R, Kavounoudias A, Mongeau JP, Roll JP, Forget R (2009) Postural changes after sustained neck muscle contraction in persons with a lower leg amputation. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 19:e214–e222
Ehrenfried T, Guerraz M, Thilo KV, Yardley L, Gresty MA (2003) Posture and mental task performance when viewing a moving visual field. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 17:140–153
Enoka RM, Duchateau J (2008) Muscle fatigue: what, why and how it influences muscle function. J Physiol 586:11–23 Review
Fuller JR, Lomond KV, Fung J, Côté JN (2009) Posture-movement changes following repetitive motion-induced shoulder muscle fatigue. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 19:1043–1052
Genthon N, Rougier P (2005) Influence of an asymmetrical body weight distribution on the control of undisturbed upright stance. J Biomech 38:2037–2049
Geurts AC, Mulder TW, Nienhuis B, Rijken RA (1992) Postural reorganization following lower limb amputation. Possible motor and sensory determinants of recovery. Scand J Rehabil Med 24:83–90
Gribble PA, Hertel J (2004) Effect of hip and ankle muscle fatigue on unipedal postural control. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 14:641–644
Hlavackova P, Fristios J, Cuisinier R, Pinsault N, Janura M, Vuillerme N (2009) Effects of mirror feedback on upright stance control in elderly trans-femoral amputees. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 90:1960–1963
Isakov E, Mizrahi J, Ring H, Susak Z, Hakim N (1992) Standing sway and weight-bearing distribution in people with below-knee amputations. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 73:174–178
Jan MH, Chai HM, Lin YF, Lin JC, Tsai LY, Ou YC, Lin DH (2005) Effects of age and sex on the results of an ankle plantar-flexor manual muscle test. Phys Ther 85:1078–1084
Ledin T, Fransson PA, Magnusson M (2004) Effects of postural disturbances with fatigued triceps surae muscles or with 20% additional body weight. Gait Posture 19:184–193
Lin D, Nussbaum MA, Seol H, Singh NB, Madigan ML, Wojcik LA (2009) Acute effects of localized muscle fatigue on postural control and patterns of recovery during upright stance: influence of fatigue location and age. Eur J Appl Physiol 106:425–434
Maki BE, Holliday PJ, Fernie GR (1990) Aging and postural control. A comparison of spontaneous- and induced-sway balance tests. J Am Geriatr Soc 38:1–9
Missenard O, Mottet D, Perrey S (2009) Adaptation of motor behavior to preserve task success in the presence of muscle fatigue. Neuroscience 161:773–786
Nadollek H, Brauer S, Isles R (2002) Outcomes after trans-tibial amputation: the relationship between quiet stance ability, strength of hip abductor muscles and gait. Physiother Res Int 7:203–214
Österberg U, Svantesson U, Takahashi H, Grimby G (1998) Torque, work and EMG development in a heel-rise test. Clin Biomech 13:344–350
Pinsault N, Vuillerme N (2008) Differential postural effects of plantar-flexor muscle fatigue under normal, altered and improved vestibular and neck somatosensory conditions. Exp Brain Res 191:99–107
Pinsault N, Vuillerme N (2009) Test-retest reliability of centre of foot pressure measures to assess postural control during unperturbed stance. Med Eng Phys 31:276–286
Prieto TE, Myklebust JB, Hoffmann RG, Lovett EG, Myklebust BM (1996) Measures of postural steadiness: differences between healthy young and elderly adults. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 43:956–966
Quai TM, Brauer SG, Nitz JC (2005) Somatosensation, circulation and stance balance in elderly dysvascular transtibial amputees. Clin Rehabil 19:668–676
Riccio GE, Martin EJ, Stoffregen TA (1992) The role of balance dynamics in the active perception of orientation. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 18:624–644
Riley MA, Mitra S, Stoffregen TA, Turvey MT (1997a) Influences of body lean and vision on postural fluctuations in stance. Mot Control 1:229–246
Riley MA, Wong S, Mitra S, Turvey MT (1997b) Common effects of touch and vision on postural parameters. Exp Brain Res 117:165–170
Schmid M, Schieppati M, Pozzo T (2006) Effect of fatigue on the precision of a whole-body pointing task. Neuroscience 139:909–920
Springer BK, Pincivero DM (2009) The effects of localized muscle and whole-body fatigue on single-leg balance between healthy men and women. Gait Posture 30:50–54
Svantesson U, Österberg U, Thomeé R, Grimby G (1998a) Muscle fatigue in a standing heel-rise test. Scand J Rehabil Med 30:67–72
Svantesson U, Österberg U, Thomeé R, Peeters M, Grimby G (1998b) Fatigue during repeated eccentric-concentric and pure concentric muscle actions of the plantar flexors. Clin Biomech 13:336–343
Taylor JL, Butler JE, Gandevia SC (2000) Changes in muscle afferents, motoneurons and motor drive during muscle fatigue. Eur J Appl Physiol 83:106–115
Vuillerme N, Boisgontier M (2008) Muscle fatigue degrades force sense at the ankle joint. Gait Posture 28:521–524
Vuillerme N, Boisgontier M (2009) Effectiveness of a tongue-placed electrotactile biofeedback to improve ankle force sense following plantar-flexor muscles fatigue. Gait Posture 30:556–559
Vuillerme N, Demetz S (2007) Do ankle foot orthoses modify postural control during bipedal quiet standing following a localized fatigue at the ankle muscles? Int J Sports Med 28:243–246
Vuillerme N, Nougier V (2003) Effect of light finger touch on postural sway after lower-limb muscular fatigue. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 84:1560–1563
Vuillerme N, Danion F, Forestier N, Nougier V (2002a) Postural sway under muscle vibration and muscle fatigue in humans. Neurosci Lett 333:131–135
Vuillerme N, Nougier V, Teasdale N (2002b) Effects of lower limbs muscular fatigue on anticipatory postural adjustments during arm motions in humans. J Sports Med Phys Fit 42:289–294
Vuillerme N, Burdet C, Isableu B, Demetz S (2006) The magnitude of the effect of calf muscles fatigue on postural control during bipedal quiet standing with vision depends on the eye-visual target distance. Gait Posture 24:169–172
Vuillerme N, Boisgontier M, Chenu O, Demongeot J, Payan Y (2007) Tongue-placed tactile biofeedback suppresses the deleterious effects of muscle fatigue on joint position sense at the ankle. Exp Brain Res 183:235–240
Vuillerme N, Sporbert C, Pinsault N (2009) Postural adaptation to unilateral hip muscle fatigue during human bipedal standing. Gait Posture 30:122–125
Acknowledgments
The authors would like thank subject volunteers and the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions. Special thanks also are extended to C. Hoxinel for various contributions. Results of a pilot study of this research have been presented at the XIII Congrès de l’Association Posture-Équilibre, Marseille (France), 8–10 Dec 2006. This manuscript has been presented in abstract form at the XVI Congrès de l’Association Posture-Équilibre, Lille (France), 13–14 Nov 2009.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by Susan Ward.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vuillerme, N., Boisgontier, M. Changes in the relative contribution of each leg to the control of quiet two-legged stance following unilateral plantar–flexor muscles fatigue. Eur J Appl Physiol 110, 207–213 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1449-z
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1449-z