A complete suppression of muscle tone in the postural muscles and a reduction of muscle tone in the respiratory related musculature occur in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Previous studies have emphasized the role of glycine in generating these changes. Because the activity of norepinephrine- and serotonin-containing neurons is known to decrease in REM sleep, we hypothesized that a decrease in...

Objective Although manual pressure, such as that used during a massage, is often associated with pain, it can simultaneously be perceived pleasant when applied to certain body areas. We hypothesized stimulation of myofascial trigger points (TPs) leads simultaneous pain and pleasure. TPs are hyperirritable located in the taut band skeletal muscle. Method In this study, we measured muscle tone, s...

OBJECTIVES to establish the reliability of the modified Ashworth scale for measuring muscle tone in a range of muscle groups (elbow, wrist, knee and ankle; flexors and extensors) and of the Medical Research Council scale for measuring muscle power in the same muscle groups and their direct antagonists. DESIGN a cross-sectional study involving repeated measures by two raters. We estimated reli...

Viscoelastic properties of skeletal muscle are associated with a complex network of cytoskeletal proteins where titin and nebulin play a substantial role. The need for evaluation of muscle viscoelastic properties is widely accepted in clinical use to evaluate the effect of treatment or progression of muscle pathology (atrophy). We tested the hypothesis that the viscoelastic properties (elastici...

Cao, W. B., K. M. Harnett, Q. Chen, M. K. Jain, J. Behar, and P. Biancani. Group I secreted PLA2 and arachidonic acid metabolites in the maintenance of cat LES tone. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 40): G585– G598, 1999.—Spontaneous tone of in vitro lower esophageal sphincter (LES) circular muscle is associated with elevated levels of arachidonic acid (AA), PGF2a, and increase...

spasticity or increase in muscle tone is one of the problems following stroke. due to this increase in muscle tone, patients are confronted to problems in motor control and difficulties in activities of daily living and complications such as shortness and contracture. the aim of this study is to compare the effects of using splint or botulinum toxin injection on spasticity, range of motion and ...