The aim of the study was to evaluate a novel approach to measuring neck muscle load and activity in vehicle collision conditions. A series of sled tests were performed on 10 healthy volunteers at three severity levels to simulate low-severity frontal impacts. Electrical activity-electromyography (EMG)-and muscle mechanical tension was measured bilaterally on the upper trapezius. A novel mechani...

Low-frequency activity within the oculomotor system helps bridge sensation and action. Given ocular stability, low-frequency activity sustained by some neurons within the intermediate and deep superior colliculus (dSC) is assumed to be separated from motor output. However, the dSC is an orienting structure and the influence of low-frequency dSC activity at other effectors remains untested. We s...

[Purpose] This study examined differences in neck muscle activity in two different head positions during tackles with the aim of contributing to the prevention of sports injuries. [Subjects] The subjects were 28 male high-school rugby players. [Methods] Two tackle positions were considered: a head-up position and a head-down position. Muscle activities of the sternocleidomastoid muscles and the...

The contextual control of movement requires the transformation of sensory information into appropriate actions, guided by task-appropriate rules. Previous conceptualizations of the sensorimotor transformations underlying anti-saccades (look away from a stimulus) have suggested that stimulus location is first registered and subsequently transformed into its mirror location before being relayed t...

The effects of the VDT screen height on working posture and electromyographic (EMG) activities of the neck and shoulder muscles were determined in 10 healthy subjects. The subjects performed a mouse-driven interactive task at the screen height settings of 80, 100 and 120 cm. Changes in body positions were measured by video image and frame analysis. Surface EMG recordings were done on the neck e...

OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of dynamic muscle training and relaxation training for chronic neck pain. DESIGN Randomised controlled trial. SETTING Five occupational healthcare centres, Tampere, Finland. PARTICIPANTS 393 female office workers (mean age 45 years) with chronic non-specific neck pain randomly assigned to 12 weeks of dynamic muscle training (n = 135) or relaxation ...

BACKGROUND Because of reported associations of psychosocial factors and computer related musculoskeletal symptoms, we investigated the effects of a workplace psychosocial factor, reward, in the presence of over-commitment, on trapezius muscle activity and shoulder, head, neck, and torso postures during computer use. METHODS We measured 120 office workers across four groups (lowest/highest rew...