Division of Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Technology and Management, USA.
Undergraduate Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11727, USA.
J Neurosci Methods. 2024 Nov;411:110271. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2024.110271. Epub 2024 Aug 31.
Reaching and grasping (R&G) in rats is commonly used as an outcome measure to investigate the effectiveness of rehabilitation or treatment strategies to recover forelimb function post spinal cord injury. Kinematic analysis has been limited to the wrist and digit movements. Kinematic profiles of the more proximal body segments that play an equally crucial role in successfully executing the task remain unexplored. Additionally, understanding of different forelimb muscle activity, their interactions, and their correlation with the kinematics of R&G movement is scarce.
In this work, novel methodologies to comprehensively assess and quantify the 3D kinematics of the proximal and distal forelimb joints along with associated muscle activity during R&G movements in adult rats are developed and discussed.
Our data show that different phases of R&G identified using the novel kinematic and EMG-based approach correlate with the well-established descriptors of R&G stages derived from the Whishaw scoring system. Additionally, the developed methodology allows describing the temporal activity of individual muscles and associated mechanical and physiological properties during different phases of the motor task.
COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): R&G phases and their sub-components are identified and quantified using the developed kinematic and EMG-based approach. Importantly, the identified R&G phases closely match the well-established qualitative descriptors of the R&G task proposed by Whishaw and colleagues.
The present work provides an in-depth objective analysis of kinematics and EMG activity of R&G behavior, paving the way to a standardized approach to assessing this critical rodent motor function in future studies.
在研究脊髓损伤后恢复前肢功能的康复或治疗策略的效果时，大鼠的抓握（Reaching and grasping，R&G）通常被用作一种结果测量。运动学分析仅限于腕部和指部运动。在成功执行任务中同样起着至关重要作用的更靠近身体近端的节段的运动学特征仍未被探索。此外，对于不同前肢肌肉活动、它们之间的相互作用以及它们与 R&G 运动的运动学之间的关系，我们的了解也很少。
在这项工作中，开发并讨论了一种新的方法，用于全面评估和量化成年大鼠 R&G 运动中近端和远端前肢关节的 3D 运动学以及相关的肌肉活动。
我们的数据表明，使用新的运动学和基于肌电图的方法识别的 R&G 的不同阶段与从 Whishaw 评分系统得出的 R&G 阶段的既定描述符相关。此外，所开发的方法允许描述在运动任务的不同阶段中单个肌肉的时间活动以及相关的机械和生理特性。
使用开发的运动学和基于肌电图的方法来识别和量化 R&G 阶段及其子组件。重要的是，所识别的 R&G 阶段与 Whishaw 及其同事提出的 R&G 任务的既定定性描述符密切匹配。
本工作对 R&G 行为的运动学和肌电图活动进行了深入的客观分析，为未来研究中评估这种关键的啮齿动物运动功能提供了标准化方法。
