The effect of movement and load on the dynamic coupling of abdominal electromyography. (14th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: King, Adam C.
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience letters. Volume 675(2018)
• Page Start: 64
• Page End: 67
• Publication Date: 2018-05-14
• Subjects: Dynamic coupling -- Correlation -- Degrees of freedom -- Abdominal muscles; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Research -- Periodicals; Neurologie -- Périodiques; Neuroanatomie -- Périodiques; Neuropharmacologie -- Périodiques; Neurophysiologie -- Périodiques; Neurology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 617.48
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.03.058
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0304-3940

Abstract

Highlights: Abdominal muscle coupling was evaluated through surface electromyography. Coupling of abdominal muscles differed from a resting state. Movement type, but not load, altered the degree of muscle coupling. Abdominal coupling may be related to each muscle's functional role. Abstract: This study investigated the degree of neural coupling in abdominal muscle activity and whether the task constraints of movement and load altered the coupling within three muscle pairings. Nineteen young, physically-active individuals performed sit-up and reverse crunch movements in bodyweight (BW) and loaded (+4.54 kg) conditions. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was recorded from the rectus abdominus (RA), external oblique (EO), and transverse abdominus (TA) muscles. Linear (correlation coefficient) and non-linear (Cross-Approximate Entropy) measurements evaluated the degree of couplings across three muscle pairings. Compared to a resting coupling state, most conditions showed evidence of coupling. The linear coupling showed greater coupling compared to the resting state. Dynamic coupling showed lower degrees of coupling for the RA-EO and RA-TA pairings but stronger coupling for the EO-TA pairing with the sit-up movement exhibiting lower Cross-ApEn (higher dynamic coupling) than the reverse crunch. The results provide preliminary evidence of coupling in abdominal muscle activity that was influenced by movement, but not load. The functional roles of the RA (prime mover), EO and TA (stabilizers) muscles may have influenced the degree of coupling and future investigations are needed to better understand the coupling of abdominal muscle activity.