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Muscular sense is attenuated when humans move

D. F. Collins, T. Cameron, D. M. Gillard and A. Prochazka

1. Muscle receptors play an important role in our conscious perception of movement, but there are no published accounts of our ability to detect their signals during different motor tasks. The present experiments introduce a method to test muscular sense when humans move.

2. Muscle receptors were excited by an electrically induced twitch of the right extensor carpi ulnaris muscle. The muscle was stimulated via percutaneously inserted intramuscular electrodes or using surface stimulation through anaesthetized skin. Muscular sense was represented by the ability to detect the twitch and was compared between various tasks and stationary control trials.

3. Three hertz voluntary wrist movements significantly attenuated muscular sense to 37 % of control. This velocity-dependent attenuation was present over a range of twitch amplitudes suggesting it does not simply reflect a masking of low intensity stimuli. Perceptual ratings of twitch amplitude during fast imposed passive movements were reduced by 40 %, though this did not quite reach statistical significance. However, perceptual ratings of twitches evoked up to 2 s after the termination of the passive movements were significantly different from control.

4. Reaching with the stimulated, but not the contralateral, arm also significantly reduced muscular sense (to 40 %).

5. Attenuation to 58 % of control during cyclic stretching of the skin on the dorsum of the hand showed that signals from peripheral receptors may play a role. Attenuation prior to a single wrist flexion movement indicated that central sources can also contribute.

6. The results are consistent with current findings of a general attenuation of sensory feedback during movement and raise questions regarding the role of muscular sense in movement control.