Affiliations: [a] School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada H3G 1Y5 | [b] Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Note: [*] Send correspondence to: Nicole Paquet, Ph.D., School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, 3654 Drummond street, Montreal, PQ H3G 1Y5. Tel. +450 688 9550 ext. 528; Fax: +450 688 3673; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The modulation of soleus (SO) H-reflex excitability during dynamic whole head-and-body tilts (WHBT) was investigated in normal healthy subjects. Between 30 and 70 ms, and 151 and 190 ms after head acceleration onset, the H-reflex amplitude was smaller than during quiet standing by 7.6% (p<0.01) and 15.4% (p=0.06) respectively. This finding suggested that dynamic WHBT reduced the excitability of the predominantly monosynaptic stretch reflex arc in the majority of the subjects studied.
Keywords: H-reflex, head-and-body tilt, balance control, human
