Step-tracking Movements of the Wrist. Load on Patterns of Muscle Activity III. Influence Changes

Human subjects performed step-tracking movements of the wrist in the radial direction. Movement amplitude, external load, and accuracy instructions were varied. We used surface electrodes to record muscle activity from an agonist, extensor carpi radialis longus, and an antagonist, extensor carpi ulnaris. When subjects performed movements “as fast as possible” that were opposed by different external loads, we observed two distinct patterns of modulation of the agonist burst. In one pattern, termed pulse-height modulation, the force of the agonist muscle was graded by varying the peak amplitude of a short-duration agonist burst. This pattern occurred when subjects performed movements of different amplitudes with a lightweight manipulandum. In the other pattern, termed pulse-width modulation, the force of the agonist muscle was graded by varying the duration of an agonist burst of nearly maximal amplitude. When the agonist burst was prolonged, the onset of antagonist activity was delayed. This pattern occurred when subjects performed movements of different amplitudes that were opposed by elastic or viscoelastic loads applied to a heavy manipulandum. The strongest subject exhibited more pulse-height modulation and less pulse-width modulation of the agonist burst than other subjects. Conversely, the weakest subject displayed more pulse-width modulation of the agonist burst than other subjects. These observations indicate that the force requirements of a task, relative to the force generating capacity of a subject’s agonist muscle(s), have a significant influence on the pattern of agonist modulation. In a second experiment using three nonhuman primates, we observed that agonist bursts in wrist flexor and extensor muscles exhibited strikingly different patterns of modulation. For wrist flexion, agonist bursts in wrist flexors were brief and displayed pulse-height modulation when movement amplitude was varied. For wrist extension, agonist bursts in wrist extensors were prolonged and displayed largely pulsewidth modulation when movement amplitude was varied. We