Different types of tremor in the human thumb.
1. The upper limbs of normal subjects were immobilized in a way that allowed measurement of forces and movements at the thumb interphalangeal joint without significant movement elsewhere in the limb. 2. When the subject attempted to maintain a steady flexing force at the joint against a rigid stop, the actual force showed the irregular 8-11 Hz fluctuations characteristic of a 'physiological tremor'. This force fluctuation increased when the mean flexing force increased. 3. If the subject exerted his flexing force against a light complaint spring, there was an analogous irregular 8-11 Hz movement at the joint. 4. When, however, an extra inertial load was added to the terminal phalanx, flexion against a complaint spring was often accompanied by a different type of tremor. This was a more regular oscillation, of lower frequency (3-6 Hz), and of much larger amplitude. 5. The precise frequency and amplitude of this type of tremor depended on the characteristics of the added inertia and spring, in a way that could have been predicted from the responses of the joint to an imposed sinusoidal movement (Brown, Rack & Ross, 1982a). The movement appeared to arise from re-excitation within stretch reflex pathways. 6. The irregular 8-11 Hz tremor at this joint could not be attributed to reflex re-excitation, since the responses to sinusoidal movement indicated a stretch reflex whose timing would not support a movement at that frequency. It is, however, emphasized that other joints of the hand and fingers may behave in different ways.
D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D005384:Finger Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D012026:Reflex, Stretch; D013933:Thumb / Q000502:physiology*