A History of Low Back Pain Associates with Altered Electromyographic Activation Patterns in Response to Perturbations of Standing Balance

Authors

Jesse V. Jacobs, University of Vermont
Sharon M. Henry, University of Vermont
Stephanie L. Jones, University of VermontFollow
Juvena R. Hitt, University of Vermont
Janice Y. Bunn, University of Vermont

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1-2011

Publication Title

Journal of Neurophysiology

Abstract

People with a history of low back pain (LBP) exhibit altered responses to postural perturbations, and the central neural control underlying these changes in postural responses remains unclear. To characterize more thoroughly the change in muscle activation patterns of people with LBP in response to a perturbation of standing balance, and to gain insight into the influence of early- vs. late-phase postural responses (differentiated by estimates of voluntary reaction times), this study evaluated the intermuscular patterns of electromyographic (EMG) activations from 24 people with and 21 people without a history of chronic, recurrent LBP in response to 12 directions of support surface translations. Twofactor general linear models examined differences between the 2 subject groups and 12 recorded muscles of the trunk and lower leg in the percentage of trials with bursts of EMG activation as well as the amplitudes of integrated EMG activation for each perturbation direction. The subjects with LBP exhibited 1) higher baseline EMG amplitudes of the erector spinae muscles before perturbation onset, 2) fewer early-phase activations at the internal oblique and gastrocnemius muscles, 3) fewer late-phase activations at the erector spinae, internal and external oblique, rectus abdominae, and tibialis anterior muscles, and 4) higher EMG amplitudes of the gastrocnemius muscle following the perturbation. The results indicate that a history of LBP associates with higher baseline muscle activation and that EMG responses are modulated from this activated state, rather than exhibiting acute burst activity from a quiescent state, perhaps to circumvent trunk displacements.

Keywords

Electromyography, Muscle synergies, Postural responses, Posture

Volume

106

Issue

5

First Page

2506

Last Page

2514

DOI

10.1152/jn.00296.2011

ISSN

00223077

Rights

© 2011 the American Physiological Society

Comments

Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.

Recommended Citation

Jacobs, Jesse V.; Henry, Sharon M.; Jones, Stephanie L.; Hitt, Juvena R.; and Bunn, Janice Y., "A History of Low Back Pain Associates with Altered Electromyographic Activation Patterns in Response to Perturbations of Standing Balance" (2011). Exercise and Sport Studies: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/ess_facpubs/7