Muscle synergies in response to biofeedback-driven gait adaptations in children with cerebral palsy

Background: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often show impaired selective motor control (SMC) that induces limitations in motor function. Children with CP can improve aspects of pathological gait in an immediate response to visual biofeedback. It is not known, however, how these gait adaptations are achieved at the neural level, nor do we...

Increased enslaving in elderly is associated with changes in neural control of the extrinsic finger muscles

Aging has consequences for hand motor control, among others affecting finger force enslaving during static pressing tasks. The aim of this study was to assess whether the extent of finger force enslaving changes with aging during a task that involves both static and dynamic phases. Ten right-handed young (22–30 years) and ten elderly subjects...

Quantifying nonlinear contributions to cortical responses evoked by continuous wrist manipulation

Cortical responses to continuous stimuli as recorded using either magneto- or electroencephalography (EEG) have shown power at harmonics of the stimulated<br/>frequency, indicating nonlinear behavior. Even though the selection of analysis techniques depends on the linearity of the system under study, the importance of nonlinear contributions to...

Dystonic neck muscles show a shift in relative autospectral power during isometric contractions

Objective<br/>To identify effects of a deviant motor drive in the autospectral power of dystonic muscles during voluntary contraction in cervical dystonia patients.<br/>Methods<br/>Submaximal (20%) isometric head-neck tasks were performed with the head fixed, measuring surface EMG of the sternocleidomastoid, splenius capitis and semispinalis...

Spectral EMG changes in Cervical Dystonia patients and the influence of botulinum toxin treatment

Botulinum toxin (BoNT) injections in the dystonic muscles is the preferred treatment for Cervical Dystonia (CD), but the proper identification of the dystonic muscles remains a challenge. Previous studies showed decreased 8–14 Hz autospectral power in the electromyography (EMG) of splenius muscles in CD patients. Cumulative distribution...

Nonlinear coupling between cortical oscillations and muscle activity during isotonic wrist flexion

Coupling between cortical oscillations and muscle activity facilitates neuronal communication during motor control. The linear part of this coupling, known as corticomuscular coherence, has received substantial attention, even though neuronal communication underlying motor control has been demonstrated to be highly nonlinear. A full assessment...

Development of a comprehensive musculoskeletal model of the shoulder and elbow

The Delft Shoulder and Elbow Model (DSEM), a musculoskeletal model of the shoulder and elbow has been extensively developed since its introduction in 1994. Extensions cover both model structures and anatomical data focusing on the addition of an elbow part and muscle architecture parameters. The model was also extended with a new inverse...

Forces in the Shoulder Joint: On validation of musculoskeletal shoulder models

Detailed information about muscle forces in the human musculoskeletal system are highly demanded for several applications. Unfortunately, the measurement of muscle forces in-vivo is hardly possible. To date, musculoskeletal models are best alternative for the direct measurement of these forces. A major concern in musculoskeletal modeling is,...

Comfort, experience, physiology and car seat innovation: Theory, Design and Evaluation

The development process of car seats is very complex and many factors have to be considered in the development, such as anthropometry, physiology, safety, design and comfort. A factor making it more complex is the fact that future cars should be more sustainable, making the need for weight reduction more prominent. Improving comfort and at the...

The intermuscular 3–7 Hz drive is not affected by distal proprioceptive input in myoclonus-dystonia

In dystonia, both sensory malfunctioning and an abnormal intermuscular low-frequency drive of 3–7 Hz have been found, although cause and eVect are unknown. It is hypothesized that sensory processing is primarily disturbed and induces this drive. Accordingly, experimenter-controlled sensory input should be able to inXuence the frequency of the...