Sports Med Rehabil J | Volume 2, Issue 3 | Review Article | Open Access
Wan X Yao1*, William M Land1, Xing Lu2, Xiaojing Liu2, Zhiguo Pan3 and Guang H Yue4
1Department of Kinesiology, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
2Department of Kinesiology, Beijing Sports University, China
3Department of Kinesiology, Yuncheng University, China
4Department of Kinesiology, Human Performance and Engineering Laboratory, USA
Comparing to the research in determining the mechanical and peripheral neural characteristics of two types of muscle contractions (i.e., Eccentric (EC) and concentric Muscle Contractions (CC)) which has been ongoing for over 60 years, the study of central neural control underlying voluntary EC and CC has just started a decade ago. Although the research in determining central neural control is relatively new, some interesting findings are, however, noteworthy to be highlighted. The purpose of this review was to provide a comprehensive account of the studies in central neural control underlying EC and CC. Previous studies report greater activation within the cortical motor network for controlling Eccentric Contractions (EC) compared to Concentric Contractions (CC), despite lower muscle activation levels associated with EC vs. CC in healthy, young individuals. When aging factor was considered, research finds that the EC resulted in significantly stronger activation in the motor control network than CC in the young and elderly groups. However, the biased stronger activation towards EC was significantly greater in the elderly compared to the younger group especially in the secondary and association cortices such as supplementary and premotor motor areas and anterior cingulate cortex. However, when Functional Connectivity (FC) was examined, research finds that CC has much stronger FC than EC. The findings of the studies with examining central neural control during EC and CC are useful for potentially guiding the development of targeted therapies to counteract age-related movement deficits and to prevent injury.
Brain activation; Concentric contraction; Eccentric contraction; EEG; FMRI
Yao WX, Land WM, Lu X, Liu X, Pan Z, Yue GH. Does Central Control Mechanism is same for Eccentric and Concentric Muscle Contractions? Sports Med Rehabil J. 2017; 2(3): 1025.