Ham. Seelen et al., DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MUSCLE SYNERGIES IN POSTURAL CONTROL IN SPINAL-CORD INJURED SUBJECTS, Journal of electromyography and kinesiology, 8(1), 1998, pp. 23-34
The development of new patterns of postural control in patients with a
complete thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) during their active clinic
al rehabilitation was studied. Especially the role of non-postural mus
cles, like the latissimus dorsi (LD) and the trapezius pars ascendens
(TPA), in maintaining and restoring sitting balance during standardize
d bimanual task performance was investigated. Twelve patients, diagnos
ed with an acute complete thoracic SCI between spinal cord level T2 an
d T12, participated in a longitudinal experimental study. Changes in t
he centre of pressure (CP) and electromyographic activity of the erect
or spinae (ES) at level L3, T9 and T3, the LD, the TPA, the pectoralis
major (PM), the serratus anterior and the oblique abdominal muscles w
ere investigated at several moments in the rehabilitation process. Res
ults show a gradual development of specific muscle activation patterns
for both high and low thoracic SCI patients. These patterns seem to b
e related to a combination of restoration of function of the ES-L3 and
ES-TB in the low thoracic SCI subjects and increased compensatory mus
cle use of the LD, TPA and PM in high SCI patients. The range in which
low thoracic SCI patients can actively vary their CP increased slight
ly during rehabilitation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re
served.