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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Translational Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1485066
This article is part of the Research Topic Advanced Technology for Human Movement Rehabilitation and Enhancement View all 16 articles

Comparison of Muscle Synergies in Walking and Pedaling: The Influence of Rotation Direction and Speed

Provisionally accepted
Junko Tsuchiya Junko Tsuchiya 1Kimito Momose Kimito Momose 2Hiroki Saito Hiroki Saito 1Koji Watanabe Koji Watanabe 3Tomofumi Yamaguchi Tomofumi Yamaguchi 4*
  • 1 Major of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation, School of Health Sciences, Tokyo University of Technology, Ota-ku, Japan
  • 2 Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Science, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, Japan
  • 3 Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Bunkyo-ku, Japan
  • 4 Department of Physical Therapy, Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Understanding the muscle synergies shared between pedaling and walking is crucial for elucidating the mechanisms of human motor control and establishing highly individualized rehabilitation strategies. This study investigated how pedaling direction and speed influence the recruitment of walking-like muscle synergies. Methods: Twelve healthy male participants pedaled at three speeds (60 RPM, 30 RPM, and 80 RPM) in two rotational directions (forward and backward). Additionally, they completed walking tasks at three different speeds (slow, comfortable, and fast). Surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded on ten lower limb muscles during movement, and muscle synergies were extracted from each condition using non-negative matrix factorization. The similarities between the muscle synergies during walking and each pedaling condition were examined using cosine similarity. Results: The results confirmed that the composition of muscle synergies during pedaling varied depending on the rotational direction and speed. Furthermore, one to three muscle synergies, similar to those observed during walking, were recruited in each pedaling condition, with specific synergies dependent on direction and speed. For instance, synergy involving the quadriceps and hip extensors was predominantly observed during pedaling at 30 RPM, regardless of the direction of rotation. Meanwhile, synergy involving the hamstrings was more pronounced during forward pedaling at 60 RPM and backward pedaling at 80 RPM. Conclusion: These findings suggest that walking-like muscle synergies can be selectively recruited during pedaling, depending on the rotational direction and speed.

    Keywords: Locomotor modules, Gait, Cycling, electromyography (EMG), motor control, Rehabilitation, central nervous system (CNS)

    Received: 23 Aug 2024; Accepted: 04 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tsuchiya, Momose, Saito, Watanabe and Yamaguchi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tomofumi Yamaguchi, Department of Physical Therapy, Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.