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Motor control after spinal cord injury: Assessment using surface EMG
Author(s) -
Sherwood Arthur M.,
McKay W. Barry,
Dimitrijević Milan R.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4598(199608)19:8<966::aid-mus5>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - motor unit , electromyography , spinal cord injury , spinal cord , physical medicine and rehabilitation , motor control , reflex , medicine , tonic (physiology) , subclinical infection , motor neuron , neuroscience , psychology
The brain motor control assessment (BMCA) protocol is a comprehensive multichannel surface EMG recording used to characterize motor control features in persons with upper motor neuron dysfunction. Key information is contained in the overall temporal pattern of motor unit activity, observed in the EMG (RMS) envelope. In paralysis, a rudimentary form of suprasegmental control of tonic and phasic reflexes can be demonstrated. EMG patterns evoked by voluntary and passive maneuvers and by volitional modulation of reflex responses reveal features of motor control not apparent in the clinical examination. Such subclinical findings may explain paradoxically different responses in apparently similar SCI subjects, and may be used to monitor spontaneous or induced changes. The recording protocol, examples of EMG patterns, and their prevalence in 40 spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects are presented, and compared with 5 healthy subjects. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.