The effects of prolonged hypokinesia, brought on by confinement to bed and the attendant lack of motor activity, on the bioelectric activity of muscles are studied. Electromyographic measurements of amplitude and frequency indicators of muscular bioelectric activity were analyzed

Amirov, R. Z.

Belaya, N. A.

Lebedeva, I. P.

Shaposhnikov, Y. A.

Sologub, B. S.

English

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SOME FEATURES OF THE BIOELECTRIC ACTIVITY OF THE MUSCLES
WITH PROLONGED HYPOKTNESIA
N. A. Re18ya, R. Zp Ariirovp Ye. A. Shaposhnikov, I. P. Lebedeva,
and B. S. Sologub
?'rans?ation of "0 nekotorykh osobennostyakh bioelektricheskoy
aktivnosti myshts pri dlitel'noy gipokinezii",
Voprosy kurortologii, fizioterapii i lechebnoy fizicheskoy
kul'tury, No. 3, May-June 1 975, pp. 238-241.
(NASA-TM-75116)	 SOME FEATURES CE THE	
N78-26727
BLOELECTPTC ACTIVITY OF THE MUSCLES WITH
P> OLnNGFD HYPOK IN ES IA (Naticnal Aeronautics 	 Unclas
and Space Aiimic1ist.ation)	 10 P AC AC2 /M'r
A01	 CSCL 06S G3/52 
230 7
rl^PS16 77-74
JUL 1978
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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20546	
.TUNE 1978
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1. Roper$ No.
	
J.	 Government Accession No
RADA i N1 -75116	
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3.	 Re	 g Nacrp ent s Corole
--- ---^^-
A. Tile and Subtitle S. Rgea Date
SOME FEATURES OF THE BIOELECTRIC
ACTIVITY OF Tif MUSCLES WITH PROLONGED
June
6.	 Performing organ salon Cade
7. Author(s) r	 Pe,lorm ng O,gonrsoGen Report No.
N.
L.
A.	 B_, laya,	 R.	 Z.	 Arnirov, Ye. A.	 ShapcshnJk	 .'j,
P. Lebedeve, and B. S. Sologub 10	 Work unit Na
^— —	 -- - .11Qontract or Grant N•,.
9 . Pe,lormrnq Orgtrltetton Nome and Address Of
	 USSR ,	 M oscow — '	 _-
13.	 Type of Report on , 	Period CoveredLeo Kanner Associates
Redwood City, California 94063 Translation
11	 Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
National Aeronautics and Space Admir. i - 14	 Sponsoring Agency Code
stration, Washin ,ton, D.C. 	 20546
IS. Supplementary Notes
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"'ranslation of "0 nekotor` • Kh osobennostyakh bioelek,-richeskoly
aktivnosti myshts pri dlitel'noy gipokinezii", Voprosy
kurortolorii, fizioterapii i lechebno,y fizicheskoy
	 I
kul'tury, No. 3, May-June 1975, pp. 2`8-241.
16. Abstract
The report discusses the bioelectric activity of the
muscles with prolonged hypokinesia, brouf-ht on by con-
finement to bed and the attendant lack of motor activity.
Electromyorrarhic measurements of the amplitude and
frequency indicators of muscular bioelectric activity
were used as the bases of the discussion.
17, Key Words (Selected by Author($)) 	 19. Distribution Statement
Uriclassif ied-Unl. imited
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	 19. Security Clossrl. (of this report 20, Seeunty Classtl. (ol this pope) 	 121. No. of Pages
Unclassified	 Unclassified
OP iGINAI. YAU ", »
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SOME FEATURES OF THE BIOELECTRIC ACTIVITY OF THE. MUSCLES
WITH PROLONGED HYPOKINESIA
N. A. BE:laya, R.L. kiirov, Ye. A. Sliaposhnikov, I. P. Lebedeva.
acid B. IS. Sologub
'	 Central Institute of Health Resort Treatment and Physical
Therapy,and Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of
the Ministry of Public Health of the USSR, Moscow
/238*In recent year:, questions of the limitation of motor
activity have acquired increasing general-clinical signifi-
cance, in connection with the fact that the negative effect
of hypokinesa on a series of physiological processes in the
body has been shoHn in a number of special, studies (L.I.
Kakurin, et al.; A.Y. Genin and P.A. Sorokin, and others).
At the same time, the strict bed-rest regimen, which leads
to the development of hypokinesia and hypodynamia, occupies
an important place in the complex of treatment measures for
a number of diseases. Clinical physicians often encounter
induced hypokinesia in connection with cardiovascular path-
ology, damage to the nervous system, surgical intervention,
etc.
There is a series of reports on the fact that prolonged
(over 10-14 days) limitation of motor activity evokes
appreciable disturbances on the part of the motor sphere
(L.I. Kakurin, et al.). Basic attention is given to such
clinical. symptoms as diffuse hypotrophy of the muscles of
the pelvic girdle and legs, alonjT with a reduction in muscle
tone and static and dynamic durability.
As concerns the bioelectric activity of the muscles
with prolonged hypokinesia, there are only individual indi-
cations of the reduction in the amplitude of muscular biological
*Numbers in the margin indicate pagination in the foreign text.
1
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currents in the legs with maximum muscular effort., without
a change in the frequency of oscillations (A.G. Panov, et al.)
available in the literature.
In the present study, which also includes qualitative
(according to Yu.S. Yusevich) analysis of the bioelectric
activity of the muscles, we present the results of the
electromyographic analysis of the flexors and extensors of
the hands and feet by the standard method of summary or
global abduction. Recording was carried out on the "Diza"
three-channel electromyograph at rest, and during a series
of functional tests (inhalation, indirect synergy, maximum
contraction, and others).
24 healthy men from 19 to 34 years of age were examined;
18 of them were on a strict bed-rest regimen for 30 days
(they were forbidden to rise and sit on the bed, and they
carried out physiological functions with the help of bedpans);
F persons, who were on a normal motor regimen, comprised the
control group. The electromyograms (EMG) were recorded 4
timers in the background period, prior to the beginning of
the hypokinetic effect, on the 14-15th and 29-30th days .f
confinement to bed, and also after a course of treatment
measures, carried out for more rapid recovery of the dis-
turbed functions.
The treatment-recovery complex used in the 2 regimens
(2 groups of 9 persons each) included massage, LFK i , and
balneologic procedures. The indicated regimens of the re-
habilitative course were conditionally called active and
passive. During the act-ive regimen, the persons being
tested executed a series of recommendations for a training
regimen and self-massage, basically independently, and during
the passive regimen, the greater part of the treatment actions
i
was carried out by medical }personnel. On the whole, thei
LFK — lechebnaya fizkul'tlirn (therapeutic physical culture).
2
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regimens were similar in volume and intensity of the actions,
which was manifested in the absence of a clear-cut difference
in the dynamics of recovery of a number of neurological indi-
cators, including EMG data. This corroborated the sufficient
saturation of both regimens with effective treatment-recovery
measures.
Those being tested who were confined to bed were
distributed into 3 groups of 6 persons each. The first
group included those on cots with a downward inclination
of the head at an angle of 6 0 , the second—those with the
cot inclined "head upward" at the very same angle, and the
third—on cots with the head angled downward at 2°. All of
those being tested, including those in the control group,
were examined according to an identical program. During
analysis of the obtained EMG's, in addition to their quali-
tative evaluation, special attention was given to the ampli-
tude and frequency of the biopotentials. As is common
knowledge, these basic indicators of the EMS 's are closely
associated with the degree of synchronization and the number
of stimulated neuromotor units, as well as with the intensity
of the process of stimulation in them at the moment of record-
ing. The number of actively functioning muscular fibers is
also important.
The investigation showed that prolonged limitation of
muscular activity evokes a number of quantitative, and some-
times even qualitative, changes in the electric activity of
the muscles, which is displayed especially clearly through
comparison with the background data. in all 24 of those being
tested, the latter data showed normal muscular bioelectric
activity (type I EMC, according to Yu. S. Yusevich). In
those in the control group, with repeated analysis of the EMG
at the end of the experiment, substantial changes were not
detected in the electric activity of the muscles. With re-
f
i
9
t
3
h9 
spect for the basic 3 groups of those being tested, who
were in a bed-rest regimen, some shifts in bioelectric
muscular activity, without exceeding the limits of the type
I EMG, were noted even during dynamic analysis of the EMG's
conducted on the 14-15th days of confinement to bed. 	 This
tendency was primarily displayed with respect to tha ampli-
tude indicators. An atrophic process was expressed in a
decrease in the thigh perimeter at the shin by an average
of 1. K -2.5 cm in all 18 of those being tested; a decrease
in muscular tone was noted at the same time. We observed
positive dynamics of the indicated changes during the re-
covery period.
It is shown in figure 1 that the amplitudes of the
potentials decreased with maximum contractions of the
muscles being studied in those being examined in all 3
groups, at different stages of confinement to bed; however,
with examination on the 29-30th days of confinement to bed,
a tendency was noted towards a slight increase in the
previous amplitude and frequency indicators. In spite of
the clear-cut pronouncedness of the tendency towards a
return of the amplitude indicators to the background magni-
tudes under the influence of rehabilitative measures, positive/2-40
dynamics were not sufficiently displayed in all of those
being studied. Thus, in those examined in the 3rd group,
even at the end of the recovery period 14-15 days aftc,^
the end of confinement to bed, the amplitude indicator] of
the EMG remained low. It is possible that this is connected
with the fact that 2 persons in the 3rd group had especially
serious hypokinesia; the most unfavorable dynamics of bio-
electric activity, :,n the whole, was noted in them.
With respect to the frequency indicators of the EMG's,
this aspect of the bioelectric activity of the muscles proved
to be more stable, and did not undergo substantial changes
4
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ao 1	 B	 ^-	 1>i
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Fig. 1. Dynamics of amplitude indicators of bioelectric
activity of muscles in different stages of the experiment.
Here and in fig. 2: A — initial condition, B-14-15th days,
C-29-30th days confined to bed, D-14-15th (lays of re-
covery periods 1-3—basic groups;	 control.
Fig. 2. Dynamics of frequency indicators of bioelectric
activity of muscles in different stages of the experimen'^.
i . % :,1L M
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.__.,...,.,..•-.^ ::%
	
bRIGMAI, PAGE IS
--	
OP YOUR Qt7ALI1'Y
Fig. 3. Appearance of curtailed rhythmic activity on
29-30th days of confinement to bed (right gastrocnemius,
test with indirect synergy)
Here and in fig. 4: a-background period; b-29-30th days
of confinement to bed; c-end of confinement period.
under the influence of hypokinesia (fig. 2), and the tendency
towards a relative decrease in the frequency values was ex-
pressed insignificar • tly. The indicated changes were displayed
most appreciably in the leg muscles, especially in the group
of foot extensors; however, in isolated persons, the reduction
in the amplitude and frequency indicators prevailed in the
foot flexor:;. In those examined in the control group, with
background and repeated analysis of the EMG's at the end of
5
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the experiment, substantial changes were not revealed in
electrical activity.
With respect to some qualitative changes in electrical
activity, recorded in individual persons as early as the 14-
15th days of confinement to bed, but encountered with
greater frequency with examination on the 29-30th days, they
were displayed in spontaneous bioelectric discharges of the
tyFe of curtailed rhythmic activity, and somewhat more often
in individual potentials of fasciculations (figs. 'l and 4).
It should be noted that the indicated changes in
electric activity were detected mist often in the legs,
f especially in the gastrocnemius. Normalization of the bio-
electric activity of the muscles (interference EMC) in all
of those being tested, without exception, with maximum con-
traction of the muscles makes it possible to think that
there were no clearly pathologic changes in electric activity
in even one of the groups (fig. S).
Potentials of fasciculations prevailed phenomenologically
among the detected quantitative changes in bioelectric
activity in different stages of the experiment (chiefly on
the 29-JOth days of confinement to bed), and curtailed
rhythmic activity was noted less often, never exceeding
the limits of type IIb (according to Yu.S. Yusevich). As was
	
indicated above, these bio- 	 Z141
electric displays were observed
only at rest, during respir-
ation and synergy.
dw
.	 I
1
Fig. 4. Appearance of indi-
vidual potentials of fascic-
ulations on the 29-30th clays
of confinement to bed (left
^Tastrocnemius, respiratory
test) .
6
With respect to the
potentials of fasciculations,
it is currently generally-
acknowledged that they are,
I
N0K___ I	 ^
Fig. s. Typical interference EMG, recorded with
maximum contraction (right gastrocnemius, 29-30th
days of confinement to bed).
as a rule, spontaneous discharges in a separate motor unit,
which occur usually in a motoneuron (or a body or axone).
The cause may be an increase in the excitability of the cell,
evoked by its primary (in the given case, because of the
I 
	
	 changed''-afferentation with idle musculature) or secondary
(change in suprasegmental, specifically reticulospinal im-
pulsation) stimulation.
The revealed spontaneous curtailed bioelectric activity
of the muscles may indicate an increase in synchronization
of stimulation of the motoneurons, which is associated with
a change in the excitability and lability of their individual
groups. The transient, "functional" nature of these changes
is corroborated by their disappearance with maximum contrac-
tion, which indicates the absence of irreversible pathologic
changes in the motor units. Attention is also drawn to the
positive dynamics of bioelectric muscular activity recorded
after the course of rehabilitative measures, which indicates
the necessity of their implementation, with the purpose of
rapid and complete recovery of the changed functions.
L -	 I
ORIGINAL PAGE IS
01.' Point (QUALITY
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`.	 REFERENCES
1. Lenin, A.M., Sorokir; P.A., in the Lnoki Problem
kosmicheskoi biology_,- LProblems of Space BioloFy_,
Vol. 1, P. 9, Moscow, 1969.
2. K akurin, L.I., K atkov kii, B.C., et al., Vopr. kurortol.,
1, 19 (1970)•
3. Panov, A.G., Lobzin, V.S., Belyankin, V.A., in the books
Problemy kosmicheskoi biolo ii LProblems of Space Biology],
Vol. 13, 1969.
4. Yusevich, Yu.S., Elektromio4-rafiya v klinike nervnykh
bolezneiElectromyography in t^inical Picture of
Nerve Diseases .,. Moscow, 1958•
1
41


Some features of the bioelectric activity of the muscles with prolonged hypokinesia

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