| Title | Integration of learned and naturally occurring flexor EMG in the human step cycle. | | Author(s) | Wetzel MC, Wetzel RE | | Source | Physiol Behav 1986; 38(1):41-51. | | MeSH | Conditioning, Operant
Electromyography
Female
Humans
Locomotion
Male
Muscles
Reaction Time
Reinforcement (Psychology)
| | Abstract | Human locomotion, as a behavioral system, is well suited for investigating the interplay of learning with innate biological mechanisms. The present work assembled, from previous findings, a test battery of operant conditioning to modify strong ongoing electromyographic (EMG) activity of the left tibialis anterior (TA), an ankle flexor muscle. An EMG segment 100-400 msec long had to occur within 700 msec, and (in different training regimens) with filtered amplitude both above and below different thresholds--all in response to a colored light that flashed at a designated time in the step cycle. Reinforcement was a high or low tone that indicated success or failure, respectively. All four subjects met training criteria (90% success rate) at a moderate amplitude, just as had been true previously for a relatively inactive knee extensor. Subject-specific limitations were found in operant control at higher and lower amplitudes. New learning was not disruptive, although ipsilateral swing duration increased, nor was it phase-dependent on any portion of the step cycle. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
| | PubMed ID | 3786500 |
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