Local muscle pressure stimulates the principal receptors for proprioception
Description
Eight neurologically healthy human volunteers participated in the current study (mean age 24.5 years ± 4.7 standard deviations; half self-identified as female and half as male). The participants provided written informed consent prior to participation, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and were financially compensated. No statistical method was used to determine sample size, but the number of participants (and single afferents) in the current study is similar or exceeds the number used in equivalent studies. Microneurography (MNG) was used to record single spindle afferent activity in the radial nerve of the right arm of right-handed participants. Surface EMG recordings were made from the extensor carpi ulnaris, extensor carpi radialis and extensor digitorum communis. The experimental task involved two conditions. In the ‘isometric’ condition, the semi-pronated hand was immobile whereas in the ‘sinusoidal’ condition the experimenter moved the participant’s hand continuously in the flexion-extension dimension so that the cursor reached the visual targets at a 0.5 Hz pace. The uploaded Excel file contains data used for statistical analyses and reflected in the Figures in "Local muscle pressure stimulates the principal receptors for proprioception" Sheet1: Fig2d_Isometric_NormFRQ. Mean change in afferent firing rate (from baseline) in the five epochs of the isometric condition. Sheet2: Fig2fg_Isometric_PopReg_100ms. . Normalized ensemble population signals during in the isometric task. Data are down-sampled using a moving average window of 100 ms. Sheet3: Sinusoidal_Angle_Rebased. Mean change in Angle in the five epochs of the sinusoidal condition. Sheet4: Sinusoidal_NormEMG_Rebased. Mean change in EMG of the parent muscle in the five epochs of the sinusoidal condition. Sheet5: Fig3b_Sinusoidal_NormFRQ_Rebase. Mean change in afferent firing rate (from baseline) in the five epochs of the sinusoidal condition. Sheet6: Sinusoidal_Velocity_Rebased. Mean change in Velocity in the five epochs of the sinusoidal condition. Sheet7: Fig3d_Sinusoidal_PopReg_100ms. Normalized ensemble population signals during muscle stretch in the sinusoidal task. Data down-sampled using a moving average window of 100 ms. Sheet8: Fig4_Comp_Coeffs_Across_Tasks. r2 values across afferents describing the relationship between spindle afferent firing and press force in the isometric condition and the relationship between spindle firing and joint angle/velocity in the sinusoidal condition.