Increased Force Variability Is Associated with Altered Modulation of the Motorneuron Pool Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Results
2.1. Isometric Index Finger Abduction Force and Variability
2.2. decomposition-Based Electromyography (dEMG) Assessments of Motorneuron pool Activituy of the First Dorsal Interosseous (FDI) Muscle
2.3. Relationship between Force Performance and Modulation of the FDI Muscle Motorneuron Pool Activity
2.4. Demographic and Clinical Correlations
3. Discussion
3.1. Altered Force Production in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
3.2. Altered Motorneuron Pool Activation during Force Control in ASD
3.3. Neuromotor Deficits, Demographic Characteristics and Clinical Symptoms in ASD
3.4. Study Limitation
4. Materials and Methods
4.1. Participants
4.2. Apparatus and Procedures
4.3. Data Processing and Analyses
4.3.1. Force Data
4.3.2. sEMG Data and Decomposition Procedures for Motor Units’ Activities
4.4. Clinical Measures
4.5. Statistical Analyses
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
ASD | Autism spectrum disorder |
ADOS-2 | Autism diagnostic observation schedule-2 |
ADI-R | Autism diagnostic inventory-Revised |
sEMG | Surface electromyography |
dEMG | Decomposition-based quantitative electromyography |
MVC | Maximum voluntary contraction |
FDI muscle | First dorsal interosseus muscle |
Motor unit | A single motorneuron and the muscle fiber that it innervates |
Motorneuron pool | A motorneuron pool consists of all individual motorneurons that innervate a single muscle |
Motor unit recruitment or Modulation of motor units | The CNS is responsible for the orderly recruitment of motorneurons through two distinct ways: spatial and temporal recruitment. Spatial recruitment activates more motor units to produce greater force. Temporal recruitment, or rate coding, deals with the frequency or activation rate of motor units firing |
Size principle | Henneman’s size principle [22] explains spatial recruitment of motor units, in which motor units are recruited from smallest to largest based on the amount of force production. For smaller force, slow twitch, low-force, fatigue-resistant muscle fibers are activated prior to the recruitment of the fast twitch, high-force, less fatigue-resistant muscle fibers |
Motor unit discharge rate | Motor unit discharge rate describes temporal recruitment of motor units represented by spike firing frequency or rate of action potentials |
Appendix A. Motor Unit Selection
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Control (n = 14) | Age | FSIQ | PIQ | VIQ | ||
MVC | 0.399 | 0.590 * | 0.640 * | 0.477 | ||
SD force | −0.576 * | 0.172 | 0.033 | 0.270 | ||
Mean discharge rate | 0.462 | −0.175 | −0.067 | −0.235 | ||
ASD (n = 17) | Age | FSIQ | PIQ | VIQ | ADOS.soc.com | ADOS.rrb |
MVC | 0.787 ** | 0.296 | 0.310 | 0.230 | −0.709 ** | −0.058 |
SD force | 0.143 | −0.300 | −0.108 | −0.453 | 0.026 | 0.329 |
Mean discharge rate | −0.470 | −0.388 | −0.332 | −0.397 | 0.674 ** | 0.1474 |
Demographic Characteristics | Control (n = 14) | ASD (n = 17) | t | p |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age (yr) | 19.57 ± 6.24 | 18.95 ± 7.14 | 0.067 | 0.798 |
Range | 11–28 | 11–32 | ||
% Male * | 85.7 (12/14) | 94.14 (16/17) | 0.576 | 0.425 |
% Right-handed * | 92.9 (13/14) | 88.23 (15/17) | 0.653 | 0.422 |
Verbal IQ | 112.62 ± 17.74 | 107.63 ± 17.14 | 0.589 | 0.449 |
Range | 82–140 | 71–126 | ||
Performance IQ | 112.69 ± 13.68 | 106.81 ± 17.68 | 0.965 | 0.335 |
Range | 85–133 | 79–129 | ||
Full-scale IQ | 114.77 ± 16.41 | 108.31 ± 18.34 | 0.975 | 0.449 |
Range | 82–138 | 78–131 |
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Wang, Z.; Kwon, M.; Mohanty, S.; Schmitt, L.M.; White, S.P.; Christou, E.A.; Mosconi, M.W. Increased Force Variability Is Associated with Altered Modulation of the Motorneuron Pool Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18, 698. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18040698
Wang Z, Kwon M, Mohanty S, Schmitt LM, White SP, Christou EA, Mosconi MW. Increased Force Variability Is Associated with Altered Modulation of the Motorneuron Pool Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2017; 18(4):698. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18040698
Chicago/Turabian StyleWang, Zheng, Minhyuk Kwon, Suman Mohanty, Lauren M. Schmitt, Stormi P. White, Evangelos A. Christou, and Matthew W. Mosconi. 2017. "Increased Force Variability Is Associated with Altered Modulation of the Motorneuron Pool Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 18, no. 4: 698. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18040698