RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, people with CSM had prolonged duration of activation of biceps femoris (12.5 % longer) and tibialis anterior (12.4 %), prolonged co-activation of rectus femoris and biceps femoris (5.14 %), and impaired scaling of the amplitude of rectus femoris and biceps femoris. Muscle activation in response to lengthening was similar between groups.
CONCLUSION: The results provide evidence for paresis as a contributory factor to gait impairment in CSM, indicated by impaired amplitude and the need for proximal co-activation to compensate for lack of distal power generation. Poor proprioception may have contributed to prolonged activation of tibialis anterior. Analysis of muscle responses to lengthening suggested that spasticity was not an important contributor. These findings have implications for the assessment and rehabilitation of gait impairment in CSM.
PMID: 23907308 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Read more... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23907308?dopt=Abstract
