Phase-dependent reflex reversal in human leg muscles during walking

Abstract

1. Reflex responses during walking were elicited in humans by stimulation of the tibial nerve at the ankle. The stimulus intensity was controlled by monitoring the M-wave from an intrinsic foot muscle. Responses were observed in the ipsilateral tibialis anterior (TA), soleus (SO), and rectus femoris (RF) muscles. The most reproducible responses were observed at a middle latency between 50 and 90 ms. The responses were most likely of cutaneous origin, because they closely resembled the responses to stimulation of a purely cutaneous nerve, the sural nerve. 2. A reversal in the direction of the middle latency response from excitation to inhibition was observed for the first time within single muscles during walking. Evidence for a reversal was seen in all three muscles examined and in all seven subjects. 3. The reflex reversal could not be elicited in standing. An inhibition whose amplitude varied in a linear fashion with stimulus intensity and background activation level was always observed at middle latency. The responses elicited during standing resembled those during the stance phase of walking. The two tasks shared some common movement goals and appeared to make use of similar reflex pathways.