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Postural after-contractions in man attributed to muscle spindle thixotropy

Karl-Erik Hagbarth and Magnus Nordin

1. It is an old observation that non-volitional arm abduction movements accompanied by a sensation of arm lightness often occur as an after-effect following forceful voluntary arm abductor contractions against a restraint. In the present study we have tested the hypothesis that such non-volitional, so-called 'postural after-contractions' are tonic reflex responses to an enhanced resting discharge in primary muscle spindle afferents which in turn is a consequence of thixotropy-dependent enhanced stiffness of intrafusal muscle fibres.

2. Results obtained in ten volunteers show that the arm abductor after-contraction phenomenon in man is most readily evoked by a type of conditioning procedure which in various respects mimics the procedure proven in animal experiments to be particularly effective in producing thixotropy-dependent excitation of primary spindle endings.

3. It is also shown that changes in arm abductor intramuscular temperature affect the strength of the after-contractions in a direction predicted by the thixotropy hypothesis.

4. Attention is drawn to several similarities between the after-contraction phenomenon with accompanying sensory illusions and the tonic reflex responses and illusions that can be induced when primary spindle endings are excited by muscle vibration.

5. The results support our hypothesis that postural after-contractions are induced by activity in primary muscle spindle afferents as a consequence of thixotropic properties of intrafusal muscle fibres. Central excitability changes following the conditioning voluntary effort may contribute to the phenomenon.

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