Inhibition of the human soleus Hoffman reflex during standing without descending commands

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to ascertain the contribution of peripheral sensory inputs to posture-related Hoffman reflex (H-reflex) modulation in the human soleus muscle. The soleus H-reflexes were elicited in the sitting (SI) and passive standing (ST) conditions in patients with clinically complete spinal cord injuries (SCI) and in neurologically normal subjects. The results clearly showed suppression of the H-reflex amplitude during the ST compared with the SI condition especially in the SCI group. Considering the lack of a descending neural command in the SCI patients, our findings suggest that peripheral sensory inputs primarily contribute to the reduction of the soleus H-reflex during the upright standing posture.