eprintid: 10046090 rev_number: 31 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/04/60/90 datestamp: 2018-04-06 13:17:59 lastmod: 2020-05-15 08:45:19 status_changed: 2018-04-06 13:17:59 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Lorentzen, J creators_name: Willerslev-Olsen, M creators_name: Hüche Larsen, H creators_name: Svane, C creators_name: Forman, C creators_name: Frisk, R creators_name: Farmer, SF creators_name: Kersting, U creators_name: Nielsen, JB title: Feedforward neural control of toe walking in humans ispublished: pub subjects: UCH divisions: UCL divisions: A01 divisions: B02 divisions: C07 divisions: D07 keywords: Ischemia, TMS, Ultrasound, Toe walking note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. abstract: Toe walking requires careful control of the ankle muscles in order to absorb the impact of ground contact and maintain a stable position of the joint. The present study aimed to clarify the peripheral and central neural mechanisms involved. Fifteen healthy adults walked on a treadmill (3.0 km h-1). Tibialis Anterior (TA) and Soleus (Sol) EMG, knee and ankle joint angles and gastrocnemius-soleus muscle fascicle lengths were recorded. Peripheral and central contributions to the EMG activity were assessed by afferent blockade, H-reflex testing, Transcranial Magnetic Brain Stimulation (TMS) and sudden unloading of the planter flexor muscle-tendon complex. Sol EMG activity started prior to ground contact and remained high throughout stance. TA EMG activity, which is normally seen around ground contact during heel strike walking, was absent. Although stretch of the Achilles tendon-muscle complex was observed after ground contact, this was not associated with lengthening of the ankle plantar flexor muscle fascicles. Sol EMG around ground contact was not affected by ischemic blockade of large diameter sensory afferents, or the sudden removal of ground support shortly after toe contact. Soleus motor evoked potentials elicited by TMS were facilitated immediately after ground contact, whereas Sol H-reflexes were not. These findings indicate that at the crucial time of ankle stabilisation following ground contact, toe walking is governed by centrally mediated motor drive rather than sensory driven reflex mechanisms. These findings have implications for our understanding of the control of human gait during voluntary toe walking. date: 2018-06-01 date_type: published official_url: https://doi.org/10.1113/JP275539 oa_status: green full_text_type: other language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1546763 doi: 10.1113/JP275539 lyricists_name: Farmer, Simon lyricists_id: SFFAR49 actors_name: Farmer, Simon actors_id: SFFAR49 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Journal of Physiology volume: 596 number: 11 pagerange: 2159-2172 event_location: England issn: 1469-7793 citation: Lorentzen, J; Willerslev-Olsen, M; Hüche Larsen, H; Svane, C; Forman, C; Frisk, R; Farmer, SF; ... Nielsen, JB; + view all <#> Lorentzen, J; Willerslev-Olsen, M; Hüche Larsen, H; Svane, C; Forman, C; Frisk, R; Farmer, SF; Kersting, U; Nielsen, JB; - view fewer <#> (2018) Feedforward neural control of toe walking in humans. Journal of Physiology , 596 (11) pp. 2159-2172. 10.1113/JP275539 <https://doi.org/10.1113/JP275539>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10046090/1/Feedforward%20neural%20control%20of%20toe%20walking%20in%20humans%20%20March%202018.pdf