Termination of upper limb movement by cutaneous afferents

We tested whether cutaneous afferents from the skin field close to an upper limb muscular region would carry information to spinal neurons at the onset or at the offset of a voluntary elbow extension movement lasting 1 s. We detected a depression of EMG activity both at onset and at the offset of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBollettino della Societa italiana di biologia sperimentale Vol. 75; no. 11-12; p. 77
Main Authors D'Aponte, A, Attisani, G, Scotto, P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Italy 01.11.1999
Subjects
Adult
Arm - physiology
Elbow - physiology
Electric Stimulation
Female
Humans
Male
Motor Neurons - physiology
Muscle Contraction - physiology
Radial Nerve - physiology
Reflex, Stretch - physiology
Spinal Nerves - physiology
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Summary:We tested whether cutaneous afferents from the skin field close to an upper limb muscular region would carry information to spinal neurons at the onset or at the offset of a voluntary elbow extension movement lasting 1 s. We detected a depression of EMG activity both at onset and at the offset of the reaching movement but in the latter case depression was significantly larger and immediate. The marked depression of EMG activity suggests an inhibition, via spinal neurons, of the descending excitation to the motoneurones supplying the triceps brachii. This spinal control might be a very efficient mechanism for the termination of voluntary movement.
ISSN:0037-8771