Comparison of electromyographic response patterns during posture and stress tasks in chronic low back pain patterns and control

doi:10.1016/0022-3999(86)90042-5

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Volume 30, Issue 2, 1986, Pages 135-141

https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(86)90042-5 Get rights and content

Abstract

Activity of the paraspinals, abdominals, and hip extensor muscles, heart rate, and skin conductance were measured in 13 chronic low back pain patients (CLBP) and 13 controls during static Postures and psychological stress. After 10 min of baseline-rest, a subject was tested during standing, 45 bend, maximum bend, posterior and anterior pelvic tilts, sitting, and supine with kness up, followed by mental arithmetic and the cold pressor. The postures were grouped into supported, balanced, and unbalanced categories. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed differences due to posture categories, but not due to group membership. It was concluded that while work is needed to understand normal muscle function during common movements, there is no compelling evidence that back muscle functioning in CLBP patients differs significantly from control subjects.

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The effects of walking posture on affective and physiological states during stress
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Citation Excerpt :
The galvanic stress response increased markedly during the speech task and during recovery in the slumped walking posture group only. Previous work has shown that galvanic skin response increases after performing stressful psychological tasks (Allen et al., 2014; Cohen, Swanson, Naliboff, Schandler, & McArthur, 1986; Sun et al., 2012). Since there was no increase in galvanic skin response in the upright walking group, this suggests that the upright posture was helping to reduce stress levels.
Embodiment theory proposes that motor processes are associated with emotions and cognitions. Previous research has shown that walking posture can influence affective memory bias. This study further investigated this theory by looking at the effects of an upright versus slumped walking posture on psychological and physiological states when faced with a psychological stressor.
Seventy-three healthy adults completed baseline self-report measures of affect, power, and sleepiness, and physiological measures of blood pressure, galvanic skin response, and skin temperature. After walking in their usual posture, the same self-report and physiological measures were obtained. Participants were then randomly allocated into one of two groups where they were asked to walk in either an upright posture or a slumped posture. While walking, participants underwent a psychological stressor. After experimental walking, the same self-report and physiological measures were obtained.
The upright walking posture group showed significantly improved psychological states including less low arousal negative affect, less sleepiness, less pain and marginally greater feelings of power than the slumped walking posture group. Physiologically, the upright walking posture group showed significantly lower systolic blood pressure, galvanic skin response, and marginally lower skin temperature than the slumped walking posture group.
This was a short-term laboratory-based experiment and results may not generalise to other situations.
Walking posture can affect both psychological and physiological states. Applications of these findings may have implications for improving mental and physiological health.
Endocannabinoid system, stress and HPA axis
2018, European Journal of Pharmacology
Citation Excerpt :
Stressful life events are considered as major predisposing risk factors for developing human diseases such as anxiety and depression. However, in humans the definition incorporates cognitive and emotional responses as well, where stress is defined as a condition in which the environmental demands exceed the coping abilities of the individual (Cohen et al., 1986). In order to study mechanisms involved in the aetiology of affective disorders and the effects of the potential pharmacological treatment, several experimental animal models of stress-related disorders have been developed over the years, which try to mimic the human stress related conditions in terms of face, construct and predictive validity (Micale et al., 2013a).
The endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is composed of the cannabinoid receptors types 1 and 2 (CB1 and CB2) for marijuana's psychoactive ingredient ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆⁹-THC), the endogenous ligands (AEA and 2-AG) and the enzymatic systems involved in their biosynthesis and degradation, recently emerged as important modulator of emotional and non-emotional behaviors. In addition to its recreational actions, some of the earliest reports regarding the effects of Cannabis use on humans were related to endocrine system changes. Accordingly, the ∆⁹-THC and later on, the ECS signalling have long been known to regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, which is the major neuroendocrine stress response system of mammals. However, how the ECS could modify the stress hormone secretion is not fully understood. Thus, the present article reviews current available knowledge on the role of the ECS signalling as important mediator of interaction between HPA axis activity and stressful conditions, which, in turn could be involved in the development of psychiatric disorders.
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Relationship between the thickness and hemodynamics of the erector spinae muscles in various lumbar curvatures
2005, Clinical Biomechanics
Background. There is little information about the relationship between the changes of hemodynamics and the morphologic changes of the erector spinae muscle.
Methods. Fifty healthy male volunteers participated. Ultrasonography was used to measure muscle thickness, and near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure tissue blood volume and its oxygenation in the erector spinae muscle at L3 in six different relaxed trunk postures (flexed 20°, flexed 40°, flexed maximum, neutral posture, extended 20°, and extended maximum of the lumbar spine). We also evaluated the reproducibility of the near-infrared spectroscopy measurements.
Findings. Near-infrared spectroscopy gave highly reproducible measurements. The thickness of the erector spinae muscle and the total and oxygenated hemoglobin were simultaneously increased during relaxed extension and decreased during relaxed flexion. Changes in the thickness of the erector spinae muscle with various lumbar curvature were similar in pattern to the changes in tissue blood volume and its oxygenation.
Interpretation. The erector spinae muscles’ thickness, tissue blood volume, and its oxygenation are simultaneously increased during relaxed extension and decreased during relaxed flexion, as demonstrated by non-invasive near-infrared spectroscopy and ultrasonography. These findings might afford a better understanding of the pathomechanics of posture-related back symptoms.
Relevance
The erector spinae muscles’ thickness, tissue blood volume, and its oxygenation are simultaneously increased during relaxed extension and decreased during relaxed flexion, as shown by non-invasive near-infrared spectroscopy and ultrasonography. Changes in hemodynamics and morphology of the erector spinae muscles in asymptomatic subjects are given for further research on the pathomechanism of back pain.
Trunk muscle activation in low-back pain patients, an analysis of the literature
2003, Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
This paper provides an analysis of the literature on trunk muscle recruitment in low-back pain patients. Two models proposed in the literature, the pain–spasm–pain model and the pain adaptation model, yield conflicting predictions on how low- back pain would affect trunk muscle recruitment in various activities. The two models are outlined and evidence for the two from neurophsysiological studies is reviewed. Subsequently, specific predictions with respect to changes in activation of the lumbar extensor musculature are derived from both models. These predictions are compared to the results from 30 clinical studies and three induced pain studies retrieved in a comprehensive literature search. Neither of the two models is unequivocally supported by the literature. These data and further data on timing of muscle activity and load sharing between muscles suggest an alternative model to explain the alterations of trunk muscle recruitment due to low-back pain. It is proposed that motor control changes in patients are functional in that they enhance spinal stability.
Muscle activation patterns in subjects with and without low back pain
2002, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Citation Excerpt :
The role of fatigue in muscle activation deserves further study. During sagitally symmetric movements, asymmetric trunk muscle activation is shown in studies in which extension is tested1,38 but not in studies in which other movements are tested.4,39,40 In our study, the asymmetry was observed in the forward direction, in which extension of the trunk is likely to occur to accommodate for the forward movement.
Newcomer KL, Jacobson TD, Gabriel DA, Larson DR, Brey RH, An K-N. Muscle activation patterns in subjects with and without low back pain. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:816-21. Objective: To analyze muscle activation patterns during various footplate perturbations, used as proprioceptive challenges in patients with low back pain (LBP) and in controls. Design: A prospective and controlled comparative study. Setting: Outpatient clinic. Participants: Twenty subjects with chronic LBP and 20 age- and sex-matched controls. Interventions: The subjects underwent 5 sets of footplate perturbations in 3 directions with 16 perturbations for each set. Main Outcome Measures: Latency, frequency, and asymmetry of muscle activation of the erector spinae, rectus abdominus, anterior tibialis, and gastrocnemius muscles were measured bilaterally with surface electromyography. Results: In the toes-up movements, subjects with LBP were significantly less likely to activate their rectus abdominus muscles (P=.02), and they were more likely to exhibit asymmetric muscle activation in the smaller forward movements (odds ratio=4.1, P=.03). The latter result appears to be driven by asymmetric contraction of the erector spinae and rectus abdominus. Conclusions: Significantly more subjects with LBP than control subjects exhibited absent firing of trunk muscles during 2 of the 5 footplate perturbations. These results suggest an abnormality of the neuromuscular loop and may represent altered proprioception. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

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Comparison of electromyographic response patterns during posture and stress tasks in chronic low back pain patterns and control

Abstract

Behav Ther

The function of the erector spinae muscles in certain movements and postures in man

J Physiol Lond

Electromyographic study of low back muscle tension in subjects with and without chronic low back pain

Dissert Abs Int

Electromyographic assessment of chronic low back pain syndrome

J Am Osteopath Assn

Treating chronic low back pain: EMG biofeedback training during movement

Phys Ther