Using force or EMG envelope as feedback signal for motor control system

Purpose: This work studied muscle neuro-mechanics during symmetrical up-going ramp (UGR) and down-going ramp (DGR). Aim: to evaluate during the modulation of muscular action the outcome of force feedback (FF) or neural feedback (NF) on the behavior of the trailing signals - i.e. the EMG envelope (eEMG) for FF or force signal for NF. Method: Subjects: 20. Investigated muscles: dorsal interosseous (FDI) and tibialis anterior (TA). Detected signals: force and EMG. Visual feedback: force (FF), eEMG (NF). Effort triangles: ramps duration 7.5 s, vertex at 50 and 100 % of the maximal voluntary action. Eventually, each subject performed FF50%, FF100%, NF50% and NF100% per each muscle. In each condition the areas beneath the force and eEMG signals were computed to calculate the ratios between the DGR and UGR values during the different tasks (force area DGR / force area UGR; eEMG area DGR / eEMG area UGR). Electro-mechanical coupling efficiency (EMCE) was estimated through the eEMG area / force area ratio for both UGR and DGR in each condition. Results: a) FF. FDI: eEMG area ratio was 0.84 ± 0.15 and 0.73 ± 0.17 for FF50% and FF100%, respectively. TA: eEMG area ratio was 0.88 ± 0.11 and 0.91 ± 0.17 for FF50% and FF100%, respectively. b) NF: FDI: force area ratio was 1.18 ± 0.13 and 1.17 ± 0.13 for NF50% and NF100%, respectively. TA: force area ratio was 1.17 ± 0.21 and 1.07 ± 0.19 for NF50% and NF100%, respectively. c) DGR EMCE was greater than UGR EMCE in all four tasks. Conclusion: The influence of UGR on deployed EMCE in the following force decrement phase underpins the changes of trailing signals area during DGR. This underlines the necessity of a careful evaluation of the features of FF or NF for experimental studies or rehabilitation purposes involving the motor control system.