Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
J Appl Physiol (1985). 2012 Apr;112(8):1258-67. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01291.2011. Epub 2012 Feb 2.
The sensorimotor cortex activity measured by scalp EEG shows coherence with electromyogram (EMG) activity within the 15- to 35-Hz frequency band (β-band) during weak to moderate intensity of isometric voluntary contraction. This coupling is known to change its frequency band to the 35- to 60-Hz band (γ-band) during strong contraction. This study aimed to examine whether such contraction level-related modulation of corticomuscular coupling differs between muscles with different muscle compositions and functions. In 11 healthy young adults, we quantified the coherence between EEG over the sensorimotor cortex and rectified EMG during tonic isometric voluntary contraction at 10-70% of maximal voluntary contraction of the tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL) muscles, respectively. In the TA, the EEG-EMG coherence shifted from the β-band to the γ-band with increasing contraction level. Indeed, the magnitude of β-band EEG-EMG coherence was significantly decreased, whereas that of γ-band coherence was significantly increased, when the contraction level was above 60% of maximal voluntary contraction. In contrast to the TA, the SOL showed no such frequency changes of EEG-EMG coherence with alterations in the contraction levels. In other words, the maximal peak of EEG-EMG coherence in the SOL existed within the β-band, irrespective of the contraction levels. These findings suggest that the central nervous system regulates the frequency of corticomuscular coupling to exert the desired levels of muscle force and, notably, that the applicable rhythmicity of the coupling for performing strong contractions differs between muscles, depending on the physiological muscle compositions and functions of the contracting muscle.
头皮 EEG 测量的感觉运动皮层活动在弱至中等强度的等长自主收缩时与肌电图 (EMG) 活动在 15-35 Hz 频带 (β 频带) 内显示出相干性。这种耦合已知在强收缩时其频带会变为 35-60 Hz 频带 (γ 频带)。本研究旨在检查这种与收缩水平相关的皮质肌耦合调制是否在具有不同肌肉成分和功能的肌肉之间有所不同。在 11 名健康的年轻成年人中,我们分别在胫骨前肌 (TA) 和比目鱼肌 (SOL) 的强直等长自主收缩期间,定量测量了感觉运动皮层 EEG 与经整流的 EMG 之间的相干性,收缩水平分别为最大自主收缩的 10-70%。在 TA 中,随着收缩水平的增加,EEG-EMG 相干性从 β 频带转移到 γ 频带。实际上,当收缩水平超过最大自主收缩的 60%时,β 频带 EEG-EMG 相干性的幅度显着降低,而 γ 频带相干性的幅度显着增加。与 TA 相反,SOL 没有显示出 EEG-EMG 相干性的这种频率变化,因为收缩水平的改变。换句话说,SOL 中的 EEG-EMG 相干性的最大峰值存在于β频带内,而与收缩水平无关。这些发现表明,中枢神经系统调节皮质肌耦合的频率以产生所需的肌肉力量水平,并且重要的是,耦合的适用节律性因收缩肌肉的生理肌肉成分和功能而异,从而在进行强收缩时有所不同。