title: Moving the arms to activate the legs.
abstract: Recent studies on neurologically intact individuals and individuals with spinal cord injury indicate that rhythmic upper limb muscle activation has an excitatory effect on lower limb muscle activation during locomotor-like tasks. This finding suggests that gait rehabilitation therapy after neurological injury should incorporate simultaneous upper limb and lower limb rhythmic exercise to take advantage of neural coupling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2214, USA. ferrisdp@umich.edu
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Ferris
authors.forename: Helen J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Pei-Chun
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D001132:Arm; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation; D014481:United States; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*