Activation and intermuscular coherence of distal arm muscles during proximal muscle contraction

In the human upper extremity (UE), unintended effects of proximal muscle activation on muscles controlling the hand could be an important aspect of motor control due to the necessary coordination of distal and proximal segments during functional activities. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of concurrent activation of elbow muscles on the coordination between hand muscles performing a grip task. Eleven healthy subjects performed precision grip tasks while a constant extension or flexion moment was applied to their elbow joints, inducing a sustained submaximal contraction of elbow muscles to counter the applied torque. Activation of four hand muscles was measured during each task condition using surface electromyography (EMG). When concurrent activation of elbow muscles was induced, significant changes in the activation levels of the hand muscles were observed, with greater effects on the extrinsic finger extensor (23.2 % increase under 30 % elbow extensor activation; p = 0.003) than extrinsic finger flexor (14.2 % increase under 30 % elbow flexor activation; p = 0.130). Elbow muscle activation also induced involuntary changes in the intrinsic thumb flexor activation (44.6 % increase under 30 % elbow extensor activation; p = 0.005). EMG–EMG coherence analyses revealed that elbow muscle activation significantly reduced intermuscular coherence between distal muscle pairs, with its greatest effects on coherence in the β-band (13–25 Hz) (average of 17 % decrease under 30 % elbow flexor activation). The results of this study provide evidence for involuntary, muscle-specific interactions between distal and proximal UE muscles, which may contribute to UE motor performance in health and disease.