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Changes in the relative contribution of each leg to the control of quiet two-legged stance following unilateral plantar–flexor muscles fatigue

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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.

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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.

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  1. Laboratoire TIMC-IMAG, Faculté de Médecine, Equipes AFIRM/AGIM3/SPM, UMR UJF CNRS 5525, 38706, La Tronche Cedex, France

    Nicolas Vuillerme & Matthieu Boisgontier

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  1. Nicolas Vuillerme
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  2. Matthieu Boisgontier
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Correspondence to Nicolas Vuillerme.

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Communicated by Susan Ward.

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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

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