Monthly Archives: October 2016

How do muscles bulge during contraction and does this influence function?

This entry was posted in Motor Impairment Blog Muscle & contracture New finding and tagged aponeurosis muscle muscle geometry ultrasound on by

Perhaps when you were a child, you stood in front of a mirror and flexed your elbow to see how big your muscles were (perhaps you have done this recently?).  The harder you contract your muscle, the bigger it looks. But of course the muscle doesn’t actually get bigger, it […]

New reflexes acting between human inspiratory muscles in able-bodied participants and those with spinal injury

This entry was posted in Motor Impairment Blog New finding Other and tagged breathing control inhibitory reflex inspiratory muscle intercostal afferent motor impairment muscle spinal cord spinal cord injury on by

Inspiratory muscle motoneurone pools are linked via many reflex connections.  These reflexes are largely inhibitory and can operate over several segments.  Much of our knowledge of these reflex connections comes from studies in animals (Marlot et al. 1988, Speck & Revelette. 1987).  In humans, we know that stimulation of the phrenic nerve […]