Muscular effort increases hand-blink reflex magnitude

Authors: Bufacchi, R.J., Ponticelli, S., Novembre, G., Kilintari, M., Guo, Y. and Iannetti, G.D.

Journal: Neuroscience Letters

Volume: 702

Pages: 11-14

eISSN: 1872-7972

ISSN: 0304-3940

DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.11.046

Abstract:

Defensive motor responses elicited by sudden environmental stimuli are finely modulated by their behavioural relevance to maximise the organism's survival. One such response, the blink reflex evoked by intense electrical stimulation of the median nerve (Hand-Blink Reflex; HBR), has been extensively used to derive fine-grained maps of defensive peripersonal space. However, as other subcortical reflexes, the HBR might also be modulated by lower-level factors that do not bear direct relevance to the defensive value of blinking, thus posing methodological and interpretive problems. Here, we tested whether HBR magnitude is affected by the muscular effort present when holding the hand in certain postures. We found that HBR magnitude increases with muscular effort, an effect most likely mediated by the increased corticospinal drive. However, we found strong evidence that this effect is substantially smaller than the well-known effect of eye-hand proximity on HBR magnitude. Nonetheless, care should be taken in future experiments to avoid erroneous interpretations of the effects of muscular effort as indicators of behaviour relevance.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34615/

Source: Scopus

Muscular effort increases hand-blink reflex magnitude.

Authors: Bufacchi, R.J., Ponticelli, S., Novembre, G., Kilintari, M., Guo, Y. and Iannetti, G.D.

Journal: Neurosci Lett

Volume: 702

Pages: 11-14

eISSN: 1872-7972

DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.11.046

Abstract:

Defensive motor responses elicited by sudden environmental stimuli are finely modulated by their behavioural relevance to maximise the organism's survival. One such response, the blink reflex evoked by intense electrical stimulation of the median nerve (Hand-Blink Reflex; HBR), has been extensively used to derive fine-grained maps of defensive peripersonal space. However, as other subcortical reflexes, the HBR might also be modulated by lower-level factors that do not bear direct relevance to the defensive value of blinking, thus posing methodological and interpretive problems. Here, we tested whether HBR magnitude is affected by the muscular effort present when holding the hand in certain postures. We found that HBR magnitude increases with muscular effort, an effect most likely mediated by the increased corticospinal drive. However, we found strong evidence that this effect is substantially smaller than the well-known effect of eye-hand proximity on HBR magnitude. Nonetheless, care should be taken in future experiments to avoid erroneous interpretations of the effects of muscular effort as indicators of behaviour relevance.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34615/

Source: PubMed

Muscular effort increases hand-blink reflex magnitude

Authors: Bufacchi, R.J., Ponticelli, S., Novembre, G., Kilintari, M., Guo, Y. and Iannetti, G.D.

Journal: NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS

Volume: 702

Pages: 11-14

eISSN: 1872-7972

ISSN: 0304-3940

DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.11.046

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34615/

Source: Web of Science (Lite)

Muscular effort increases hand-blink reflex magnitude

Authors: Bufacchi, R.J., Ponticelli, S., Novembre, G., Kilintari, M., Guo, Y. and Iannetti, G.D.

Journal: Neuroscience Letters

Volume: 702

Pages: 11-14

eISSN: 1872-7972

ISSN: 0304-3940

DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.11.046

Abstract:

© 2019 The Authors Defensive motor responses elicited by sudden environmental stimuli are finely modulated by their behavioural relevance to maximise the organism's survival. One such response, the blink reflex evoked by intense electrical stimulation of the median nerve (Hand-Blink Reflex; HBR), has been extensively used to derive fine-grained maps of defensive peripersonal space. However, as other subcortical reflexes, the HBR might also be modulated by lower-level factors that do not bear direct relevance to the defensive value of blinking, thus posing methodological and interpretive problems. Here, we tested whether HBR magnitude is affected by the muscular effort present when holding the hand in certain postures. We found that HBR magnitude increases with muscular effort, an effect most likely mediated by the increased corticospinal drive. However, we found strong evidence that this effect is substantially smaller than the well-known effect of eye-hand proximity on HBR magnitude. Nonetheless, care should be taken in future experiments to avoid erroneous interpretations of the effects of muscular effort as indicators of behaviour relevance.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34615/

Source: Manual

Preferred by: Marina Kilintari

Muscular effort increases hand-blink reflex magnitude.

Authors: Bufacchi, R.J., Ponticelli, S., Novembre, G., Kilintari, M., Guo, Y. and Iannetti, G.D.

Journal: Neuroscience letters

Volume: 702

Pages: 11-14

eISSN: 1872-7972

ISSN: 0304-3940

DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.11.046

Abstract:

Defensive motor responses elicited by sudden environmental stimuli are finely modulated by their behavioural relevance to maximise the organism's survival. One such response, the blink reflex evoked by intense electrical stimulation of the median nerve (Hand-Blink Reflex; HBR), has been extensively used to derive fine-grained maps of defensive peripersonal space. However, as other subcortical reflexes, the HBR might also be modulated by lower-level factors that do not bear direct relevance to the defensive value of blinking, thus posing methodological and interpretive problems. Here, we tested whether HBR magnitude is affected by the muscular effort present when holding the hand in certain postures. We found that HBR magnitude increases with muscular effort, an effect most likely mediated by the increased corticospinal drive. However, we found strong evidence that this effect is substantially smaller than the well-known effect of eye-hand proximity on HBR magnitude. Nonetheless, care should be taken in future experiments to avoid erroneous interpretations of the effects of muscular effort as indicators of behaviour relevance.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34615/

Source: Europe PubMed Central

Muscular effort increases hand-blink reflex magnitude.

Authors: Bufacchi, R.J., Ponticelli, S., Novembre, G., Kilintari, M., Guo, Y. and Iannetti, G.D.

Journal: Neuroscience Letters

Volume: 702

Pages: 11-14

ISSN: 0304-3940

Abstract:

Defensive motor responses elicited by sudden environmental stimuli are finely modulated by their behavioural relevance to maximise the organism's survival. One such response, the blink reflex evoked by intense electrical stimulation of the median nerve (Hand-Blink Reflex; HBR), has been extensively used to derive fine-grained maps of defensive peripersonal space. However, as other subcortical reflexes, the HBR might also be modulated by lower-level factors that do not bear direct relevance to the defensive value of blinking, thus posing methodological and interpretive problems. Here, we tested whether HBR magnitude is affected by the muscular effort present when holding the hand in certain postures. We found that HBR magnitude increases with muscular effort, an effect most likely mediated by the increased corticospinal drive. However, we found strong evidence that this effect is substantially smaller than the well-known effect of eye-hand proximity on HBR magnitude. Nonetheless, care should be taken in future experiments to avoid erroneous interpretations of the effects of muscular effort as indicators of behaviour relevance.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34615/

Source: BURO EPrints