Bilateral tremor responses to unilateral loading and fatiguing muscle contractions. 2013

Justin J Kavanagh, and Andrew G Cresswell, and Surendran Sabapathy, and Timothy J Carroll
Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. j.kavanagh@griffith.edu.au

Although physiological tremor has been extensively studied within a single limb, tremor relationships between limbs are not well understood. Early investigations proposed that tremor in each limb is driven by CNS oscillators operating in parallel. However, recent evidence suggests that tremor in both limbs arises from shared neural inputs and is more likely to be observed under perturbed conditions. In the present study, postural tremor about the elbow joint and elbow flexor EMG activity were examined on both sides of the body in response to unilateral loading and fatiguing muscle contractions. Applying loads of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 3.0 kg to a single limb increased tremor and muscle activity in the loaded limb but did not affect the unloaded limb, indicating that manipulating the inertial characteristics of a limb does not evoke bilateral tremor responses. In contrast, maximal-effort unilateral isometric contractions resulted in increased tremor and muscle activity in both the active limb and the nonactive limb without any changes in between-limb tremor or muscle coupling. When unilateral contractions were repeated intermittently, to the extent that maximum torque generation about the elbow joint declined by 50%, different tremor profiles were observed in each limb. Specifically, unilateral fatigue altered coupling between limbs and generated a bilateral response such that tremor and brachioradialis EMG decreased for the fatigued limb and increased in the contralateral nonfatigued limb. Our results demonstrate that activity in the nonactive limb may be due to a "spillover" effect rather than directly coupled neural output to both arms and that between-limb coupling for tremor and muscle activity is only altered under considerably perturbed conditions, such as fatigue-inducing contractions.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D004551 Elbow Joint A hinge joint connecting the FOREARM to the ARM. Elbow Joints,Joint, Elbow,Joints, Elbow
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D014202 Tremor Cyclical movement of a body part that can represent either a physiologic process or a manifestation of disease. Intention or action tremor, a common manifestation of CEREBELLAR DISEASES, is aggravated by movement. In contrast, resting tremor is maximal when there is no attempt at voluntary movement, and occurs as a relatively frequent manifestation of PARKINSON DISEASE. Action Tremor,Intention Tremor,Resting Tremor,Coarse Tremor,Continuous Tremor,Darkness Tremor,Fine Tremor,Intermittent Tremor,Involuntary Quiver,Massive Tremor,Passive Tremor,Persistent Tremor,Pill Rolling Tremor,Rest Tremor,Saturnine Tremor,Senile Tremor,Static Tremor,Tremor, Limb,Tremor, Muscle,Tremor, Neonatal,Tremor, Nerve,Tremor, Perioral,Tremor, Semirhythmic,Action Tremors,Coarse Tremors,Continuous Tremors,Darkness Tremors,Fine Tremors,Intention Tremors,Intermittent Tremors,Involuntary Quivers,Limb Tremor,Limb Tremors,Massive Tremors,Muscle Tremor,Muscle Tremors,Neonatal Tremor,Neonatal Tremors,Nerve Tremor,Nerve Tremors,Passive Tremors,Perioral Tremor,Perioral Tremors,Persistent Tremors,Pill Rolling Tremors,Quiver, Involuntary,Rest Tremors,Resting Tremors,Saturnine Tremors,Semirhythmic Tremor,Semirhythmic Tremors,Senile Tremors,Static Tremors,Tremor, Action,Tremor, Coarse,Tremor, Continuous,Tremor, Darkness,Tremor, Fine,Tremor, Intention,Tremor, Intermittent,Tremor, Massive,Tremor, Passive,Tremor, Persistent,Tremor, Pill Rolling,Tremor, Rest,Tremor, Resting,Tremor, Saturnine,Tremor, Senile,Tremor, Static,Tremors
D016474 Weight-Bearing The physical state of supporting an applied load. This often refers to the weight-bearing bones or joints that support the body's weight, especially those in the spine, hip, knee, and foot. Load-Bearing,Axial Loading,Loadbearing,Weightbearing,Axial Loadings,Load Bearing,Weight Bearing
D055815 Young Adult A person between 19 and 24 years of age. Adult, Young,Adults, Young,Young Adults
D018763 Muscle Fatigue A state arrived at through prolonged and strong contraction of a muscle. Studies in athletes during prolonged submaximal exercise have shown that muscle fatigue increases in almost direct proportion to the rate of muscle glycogen depletion. Muscle fatigue in short-term maximal exercise is associated with oxygen lack and an increased level of blood and muscle lactic acid, and an accompanying increase in hydrogen-ion concentration in the exercised muscle. Fatigue, Muscle,Muscular Fatigue,Fatigue, Muscular

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