neural mechanism about muscle relaxation

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K16494
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Sports science
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Kouki Kato 早稲田大学, スポーツ科学学術院, 助手 (10750771)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 協調運動 / 運動抑制 / TMS / EMG

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In daily life, many occasions require the simultaneous use of multiple muscles.　Especially, complex multi-limb movements such as playing the piano or drum require fine coordination, not only of muscle contraction but also of muscle relaxation. It is well known that muscle contraction influences on the motor behavior in another limb (remote effect). The objective of the present research was to clarify the remote effect of muscle relaxation. It is demonstrated that the force magnitude of sustained contraction or corticospinal excitability for one muscle decreased by muscle relaxation for another muscle of ipsilateral, contralateral and intra-limb.
Furthermore, we additionally demonstrated that motor imagery of muscle relaxation also induced reduction of corticospinal excitability for another muscle.

Free Research Field

motor control