The development of spinal hyper-reflexia as part of the spasticity syndrome represents one of the major complications associated with chronic spinal traumatic injury (SCI). The primary mechanism leading to progressive appearance of muscle spasticity is multimodal and may include loss of descending inhibitory tone, alteration of segmental interneuron-mediated inhibition and/or increased reflex a...

CONTEXT Static stretching is commonly used during the treatment and rehabilitation of orthopedic injuries to increase joint range of motion (ROM) and muscle flexibility. Understanding the physiological adaptations that occur in the neuromuscular system as a result of long-term stretching may provide insight into the mechanisms responsible for changes in flexibility. OBJECTIVE To examine possi...

Reflex, mechanical and histochemical adaptations of the soleus muscle following 3 weeks of hindlimb suspension (HS) were measured in the rat. HS transformed the soleus muscle fibre type composition from predominantly slow, type I, to approximately equal proportions of fast, type II and slow fibres. Consistent with this transformation was an increase in the maximum shortening velocity, V(max), a...

nkle sprains perhaps are frequently the most common injury experienced by athletes. It has been documented that up to 85% of injuries to the ankle involve the lateral structures resulting from the combined motions of plantar flexion and inversion (2). Damage to the lateral structures often results in disability, which can be found in up to 40% of individuals who have experienced injury to the l...

While Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has become a routine diagnostic method to deal with pathology of the knee, little has been published about foot and ankle lesions. This is probably due to the anatomic complexity of bone and ligamentous structures of these small joints, necessitating the use of very thin slices from various orientation planes (orthogonal and oblique planes). A special tech...

A technique of distributed surface electrical stimulation of the foot sole was used to elicit the withdrawal reflex in ankle flexors and extensors during gait. Tibialis anterior and soleus reflexes were recorded from 8 subjects during treadmill walking. The largest responses in tibialis anterior were evoked at the arch of the foot, while in soleus the largest responses were elicited at the heel...

1 Operant Conditioning to Increase Ankle Control or Decrease Reflex Excitability Improves 1 Reflex Modulation and Walking Function in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury 2 3 4 Kathleen J. Manella, Kathryn E. Roach, and Edelle C. Field-Fote 2 5 6 Department of Physical Therapy and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Miller School of 7 Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL USA 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16...

There is growing evidence that aging and muscle fatigue result in impaired postural reflexes in humans. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the effects of ankle fatigue on functional reflex activity (FRA) during gait perturbations in young and elderly men. Twenty-eight young (27.0+/-3.1 years, n=14) and old (67.2+/-3.7 years, n=14) healthy active men participated in this study...