Physical Therapy Korea (한국전문물리치료학회지)
- Volume 13 Issue 4
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- Pages.10-15
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- 2006
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- 1225-8962(pISSN)
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- 2287-982X(eISSN)
Effect of Fatigue on Force-Matching in the Quadriceps Muscle
- Song, Young-Hee (Dept. of Rehabilitation Therapy, The Graduate School, Yonsei University) ;
- Lee, Su-Young (Dept. of Rehabilitation Therapy, The Graduate School, Yonsei University) ;
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Kwon, Oh-Yun
(Dept. of Physical Therapy, College of Health Science, Yonsei University, Institute of Health Science, Yonsei University)
- Received : 2006.09.20
- Accepted : 2006.10.21
- Published : 2006.11.19
Abstract
This study examined the ability of human subjects to match a force in their quadriceps muscle during fatigue. Twenty subjects (mean age: 23.4 yrs, mean height: 167.8 cm, mean weight, 62.6 kg) were enrolled in the experiment. In the force-matching task, the quadriceps muscle generated 50% of the MVIC (maximum voluntary isometric contraction) torque under visual control and then without visual feedback. After inducing fatigue in the quadriceps muscle, the subjects were required to match 50% of the MVIC torque without visual feedback. The perceived magnitude of the force and force-matching errors were measured. 50% of the MVIC torque was perceived from 39.96 Nm in the pre-fatigue condition to 44.95 Nm in the post-fatigue condition. 50% of the MVIC torque-matching errors increased significantly from .55% in the pre-fatigue condition to 9.6% in the post-fatigue condition (p<.001). in addition, there were significantly more force-matching errors in women than in men (p<.01). In conclusion muscle fatigue can interfere with a subject's ability to match a force. This suggests that muscle fatigue may contributes to the sensitization of the proprioception.