TY - JOUR
T1 - Corrective muscle activity reveals subject-specific sensorimotor recalibration
AU - Iturralde, Pablo A.
AU - Torres-Oviedo, Gelsy
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Iturralde and Torres-Oviedo.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Recent studies suggest that planned and corrective actions are recalibrated during some forms of motor adaptation. However, corrective (also known as reactive) movements in human locomotion are thought to simply reflect sudden environmental changes independently from sensorimotor recalibration. Thus, we asked whether corrective responses can indicate the motor system’s adapted state following prolonged exposure to a novel walking situation inducing sensorimotor adaptation. We recorded electromyographic (EMG) signals bilaterally on 15 leg muscles before, during, and after split-belts walking (i.e., novel walking situation), in which the legs move at different speeds. We exploited the rapid temporal dynamics of corrective responses upon unexpected speed transitions to isolate them from the overall motor output. We found that corrective muscle activity was structurally different following short versus long exposures to split-belts walking. Only after a long exposure, removal of the novel environment elicited corrective muscle patterns that matched those expected in response to a perturbation opposite to the one originally experienced. This indicated that individuals who recalibrated their motor system adopted split-belts environment as their new “normal” and transitioning back to the original walking environment causes subjects to react as if it was novel to them. Interestingly, this learning declined with age, but steady state modulation of muscle activity during split-belts walking did not, suggesting potentially different neural mechanisms underlying these motor patterns. Taken together, our results show that corrective motor commands reflect the adapted state of the motor system, which is less flexible as we age.
AB - Recent studies suggest that planned and corrective actions are recalibrated during some forms of motor adaptation. However, corrective (also known as reactive) movements in human locomotion are thought to simply reflect sudden environmental changes independently from sensorimotor recalibration. Thus, we asked whether corrective responses can indicate the motor system’s adapted state following prolonged exposure to a novel walking situation inducing sensorimotor adaptation. We recorded electromyographic (EMG) signals bilaterally on 15 leg muscles before, during, and after split-belts walking (i.e., novel walking situation), in which the legs move at different speeds. We exploited the rapid temporal dynamics of corrective responses upon unexpected speed transitions to isolate them from the overall motor output. We found that corrective muscle activity was structurally different following short versus long exposures to split-belts walking. Only after a long exposure, removal of the novel environment elicited corrective muscle patterns that matched those expected in response to a perturbation opposite to the one originally experienced. This indicated that individuals who recalibrated their motor system adopted split-belts environment as their new “normal” and transitioning back to the original walking environment causes subjects to react as if it was novel to them. Interestingly, this learning declined with age, but steady state modulation of muscle activity during split-belts walking did not, suggesting potentially different neural mechanisms underlying these motor patterns. Taken together, our results show that corrective motor commands reflect the adapted state of the motor system, which is less flexible as we age.
KW - EMG
KW - Locomotion
KW - Motor learning
KW - Split-belt walking
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065539198&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1523/ENEURO.0358-18.2019
DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0358-18.2019
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 31043463
AN - SCOPUS:85065539198
SN - 2373-2822
VL - 6
JO - eNeuro
JF - eNeuro
IS - 2
M1 - e0358-18.2019
ER -