Muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking.
Several studies suggest that the central nervous system coordinates muscle activation by modulating neural commands directed to groups of muscles combined to form muscle synergies. Individuals with patellofemoral pain (PFP) move differently from asymptomatic individuals. Understanding the neural str...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292464&type=printable |
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| author | Cintia Lopes Ferreira Filipe Oliveira Barroso Diego Torricelli José L Pons Fabiano Politti Paulo Roberto Garcia Lucareli |
| author_facet | Cintia Lopes Ferreira Filipe Oliveira Barroso Diego Torricelli José L Pons Fabiano Politti Paulo Roberto Garcia Lucareli |
| author_sort | Cintia Lopes Ferreira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Several studies suggest that the central nervous system coordinates muscle activation by modulating neural commands directed to groups of muscles combined to form muscle synergies. Individuals with patellofemoral pain (PFP) move differently from asymptomatic individuals. Understanding the neural strategies involved in the execution of tasks such as walking can help comprehend how the movement is planned and better understand this clinical condition. The objective of this study was to compare muscle synergies between women with and without PFP during walking. Eleven women with PFP and thirteen asymptomatic women were assessed using three-dimensional kinematics and electromyography (EMG) while walking at self-selected speed. Kinematics of the trunk, pelvis and lower limbs were analyzed through the Movement Deviation Profile. Muscle synergies were extracted from the EMG signals of eight lower limb muscles collected throughout the whole gait cycle. Kinematic differences between the two groups (p<0.001, z-score = 3.06) were more evident during loading response, terminal stance, and pre-swing. PFP group presented a lower number of muscle synergies (p = 0.037), and greater variability accounted for (VAFtotal) when using 3 (p = 0.017), 4 (p = 0.004), and 5 (p = 0.012) synergies to reconstruct all EMG signals. The PFP group also presented higher VAFmuscle for rectus femoris (p = 0.048) and gastrocnemius medialis (p = 0.019) when considering 4 synergies. Our results suggest that women with PFP show lower motor complexity and deficit in muscle coordination to execute gait, indicating that gait in PFP is the result of different neural commands compared to asymptomatic women. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:49:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4cacfbfacb704922a941859d8593046e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:49:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-4cacfbfacb704922a941859d8593046e2023-11-04T05:33:23ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-011810e029246410.1371/journal.pone.0292464Muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking.Cintia Lopes FerreiraFilipe Oliveira BarrosoDiego TorricelliJosé L PonsFabiano PolittiPaulo Roberto Garcia LucareliSeveral studies suggest that the central nervous system coordinates muscle activation by modulating neural commands directed to groups of muscles combined to form muscle synergies. Individuals with patellofemoral pain (PFP) move differently from asymptomatic individuals. Understanding the neural strategies involved in the execution of tasks such as walking can help comprehend how the movement is planned and better understand this clinical condition. The objective of this study was to compare muscle synergies between women with and without PFP during walking. Eleven women with PFP and thirteen asymptomatic women were assessed using three-dimensional kinematics and electromyography (EMG) while walking at self-selected speed. Kinematics of the trunk, pelvis and lower limbs were analyzed through the Movement Deviation Profile. Muscle synergies were extracted from the EMG signals of eight lower limb muscles collected throughout the whole gait cycle. Kinematic differences between the two groups (p<0.001, z-score = 3.06) were more evident during loading response, terminal stance, and pre-swing. PFP group presented a lower number of muscle synergies (p = 0.037), and greater variability accounted for (VAFtotal) when using 3 (p = 0.017), 4 (p = 0.004), and 5 (p = 0.012) synergies to reconstruct all EMG signals. The PFP group also presented higher VAFmuscle for rectus femoris (p = 0.048) and gastrocnemius medialis (p = 0.019) when considering 4 synergies. Our results suggest that women with PFP show lower motor complexity and deficit in muscle coordination to execute gait, indicating that gait in PFP is the result of different neural commands compared to asymptomatic women.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292464&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Cintia Lopes Ferreira Filipe Oliveira Barroso Diego Torricelli José L Pons Fabiano Politti Paulo Roberto Garcia Lucareli Muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking. PLoS ONE |
| title | Muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking. |
| title_full | Muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking. |
| title_fullStr | Muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking. |
| title_short | Muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking. |
| title_sort | muscle synergies analysis shows altered neural strategies in women with patellofemoral pain during walking |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292464&type=printable |
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