Influence of knee and joint angle on muscle properties of paralyzed and non paralyzed human knee extensors

KH Gerrits, CN Maganaris, ND Reeves, AJ Sargeant, David Jones, A De Haan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Muscles of individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI) exhibit an unexpected leftward shift in the force (torque)-frequency relationship. We investigated whether differences in torque-angle relationships between SCI and able-bodied control muscles could explain this shift. Electrically stimulated knee-extensor contractions were obtained at knee flexion angles of between 30 degrees and 90 degrees. Torque-frequency relationships were obtained at 30 degrees, 90 degrees, and optimum angle. Optimum angle was not different between groups but SCI-normalized torques were lower at the extreme angles. At all angles, SCI muscles produced higher relative torques at low stimulation frequencies. Thus, there was no evidence of a consistent change in the length of paralyzed SCI muscles, and the anomalous leftward shift in the torque-frequency relationship was not the result of testing the muscle at a relatively long length. The results provide valuable information about muscle changes occurring in various neurological disorders.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)73-80
Number of pages8
JournalMuscle & Nerve
Volume32
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2005

Keywords

  • muscle torque
  • quadriceps
  • muscle length
  • spinal cord injury
  • isometric contraction

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