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Motor strategies used by rats spinalized at birth to maintain stance in response to imposed perturbations.

ABSTRACT: Some rats spinalized P1/P2 achieve autonomous weight-supported locomotion and quiet stance as adults. We used force platforms and robot-applied perturbations to test such spinalized rats (n = 6) that exhibited both weight-supporting locomotion and stance, and also normal rats (n = 8). Ground reaction forces in individual limbs and the animals' center of pressure were examined. In normal rats, both forelimbs and hindlimbs participated actively to control horizontal components of ground reaction forces. Rostral perturbations increased forelimb ground reaction forces and caudal perturbations increased hindlimb ground reaction forces. Operate rats carried 60% body weight on the forelimbs and had a more rostral center of pressure placement. The pattern in normal rats was to carry significantly more weight on the hindlimbs in quiet stance (roughly 60%). The strategy of operate rats to compensate for perturbations was entirely in forelimbs; as a result, the hindlimbs were largely isolated from the perturbation. Stiffness magnitude of the whole body was measured: its magnitude was hourglass shaped, with the principal axis oriented rostrocaudally. Operate rats were significantly less stiff--only 60-75% of normal rats' stiffness. The injured rats adopt a stance strategy that isolates the hindlimbs from perturbation and may thus prevent hindlimb loadings. Such loadings could initiate reflex stepping, which we observed. This might activate lumbar pattern generators used in their locomotion. Adult spinalized rats never achieve independent hindlimb weight-supported stance. The stance strategy of the P1 spinalized rats differed strongly from the behavior of intact rats and may be difficult for rats spinalized as adults to master.

SUBMITTER: Giszter SF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2919298 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Motor strategies used by rats spinalized at birth to maintain stance in response to imposed perturbations.

Giszter Simon F SF Davies Michelle R MR Graziani Virginia V

Journal of neurophysiology 20070207 4

Some rats spinalized P1/P2 achieve autonomous weight-supported locomotion and quiet stance as adults. We used force platforms and robot-applied perturbations to test such spinalized rats (n = 6) that exhibited both weight-supporting locomotion and stance, and also normal rats (n = 8). Ground reaction forces in individual limbs and the animals' center of pressure were examined. In normal rats, both forelimbs and hindlimbs participated actively to control horizontal components of ground reaction f ...[more]

PMID: 17287444

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Project description:Older adults are at a high risk of falls, and most falls occur during locomotor activities like walking. This study aimed to improve our understanding of changes in neuromuscular control associated with increased risk of falls in older adults in the presence of dynamic balance challenges during walking. Motor module (also known as muscle synergy) analyses identified changes in the neuromuscular recruitment of leg muscles during walking with and without perturbations designed to elicit the visual perception of lateral instability. During normal walking we found that a history of falls (but not age) was associated with reduced motor module complexity and that age (but not a history of falls) was associated with increased step-to-step variability of module recruitment timing. Furthermore, motor module complexity was unaltered in the presence of optical flow perturbations. The specific effects of a history of falls on leg muscle recruitment included an absence and/or inability to independently recruit motor modules normally recruited to perform biomechanical functions important for walking balance control. These results suggest that fallers do not recruit the appropriate motor modules necessary for well-coordinated walking balance control even in the presence of perturbations. The identified changes in the modular control of walking balance in older fallers may either represent a neural deficit that leads to poor balance control or a prior history of falls that results in a compensatory motor adaptation. In either case, our study provides initial evidence that a reduced motor repertoire in older adult fallers may be a constraint on their ability to appropriately respond to balance challenges during walking. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first study to demonstrate a reduced motor repertoire during walking in older adults with a history of falls but without any overt neurological deficits. Furthermore, using virtual reality during walking to elicit the visual perception of lateral instability, we provide initial evidence that a reduced motor repertoire in older adult fallers may be a constraint on their ability to appropriately respond to balance challenges during walking.

Dataset Information

Motor strategies used by rats spinalized at birth to maintain stance in response to imposed perturbations.

Publications

Motor strategies used by rats spinalized at birth to maintain stance in response to imposed perturbations.

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