Département de Physiologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada.
J Neurosci. 2011 Aug 17;31(33):11968-79. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0132-11.2011.
To make an accurate movement, the CNS has to overcome the inherent complexities of the multijoint limb. For example, interaction torques arise when motion of individual arm segments propagates to adjacent segments causing their movement without any muscle contractions. Since these passive joint torques significantly add to the overall torques generated by active muscular contractions, they must be taken into account during planning or execution of goal-directed movements. We investigated the role of the corticospinal tract in compensating for the interaction torques during arm movements in humans. Twelve subjects reached to visual targets with their arm supported by a robotic exoskeleton. Reaching to one target was accompanied by interaction torques that assisted the movement, while reaching to the other target was accompanied by interaction torques that resisted the movement. Corticospinal excitability was assessed at different times during movement using single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the upper-arm region of M1 (primary motor cortex). We found that TMS responses in shoulder monoarticular and elbow-shoulder biarticular muscles changed together with the interaction torques during movements in which the interaction torques were resistive. In contrast, TMS responses did not correlate with assistive interaction torques or with co-contraction. This suggests that the descending motor command includes compensation for passive limb dynamics. Furthermore, our results suggest that compensation for interaction torques involves the biarticular muscles, which span both shoulder and elbow joints and are in a biomechanically advantageous position to provide such compensation.
为了实现精确的运动,中枢神经系统必须克服多关节肢体固有的复杂性。例如,当单个手臂段的运动传播到相邻的段时,就会产生交互扭矩,导致它们在没有任何肌肉收缩的情况下运动。由于这些被动关节扭矩显著增加了由主动肌肉收缩产生的总扭矩,因此在规划或执行目标导向运动时必须考虑到它们。我们研究了皮质脊髓束在人类手臂运动中补偿交互扭矩的作用。12 名受试者在机器人外骨骼的支撑下用手臂达到视觉目标。到达一个目标伴随着辅助运动的交互扭矩,而到达另一个目标则伴随着抵抗运动的交互扭矩。使用单脉冲经颅磁刺激(TMS)在上臂 M1(初级运动皮层)区域对运动过程中的不同时间点进行皮质脊髓兴奋性评估。我们发现,当交互扭矩为抵抗性时,TMS 对肩单关节和肘肩双关节肌肉的反应与交互扭矩一起变化。相比之下,TMS 反应与辅助交互扭矩或共同收缩无关。这表明下行运动指令包括对被动肢体动力学的补偿。此外,我们的结果表明,交互扭矩的补偿涉及双关节肌肉,这些肌肉跨越肩部和肘部关节,处于提供这种补偿的生物力学有利位置。