Moving the arms to activate the legs.
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.
Ferris
Daniel P
DP
Department of Movement Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2214, USA. ferrisdp@umich.edu
Huang
Helen J
HJ
Kao
Pei-Chun
PC
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*