Abnormal temporal recruitment of postural neuromuscular synergies in patients with Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

Objective: We investigated the spatiotemporal structure of EMG-derived synergies during balance perturbations to gain insight into deficient postural control in Parkinson's Disease (PD). We also examined the utility of muscle activation pattern analysis for predicting the result of postural responses.

Methods: 20 PD patients and 21 age-matched controls were subjected to repeated pull-test trials and a gait task. Kinematics and neuromuscular synergies were extracted from accelerometer- and surface-EMG-data. Pull-test trials were automatically classified based on their outcome (self-recovered and failed-balance-recovery trials).

Results: Muscle activity during pull-tests was sustained by four neuromuscular synergies to which distinct physiological functions could be ascribed in healthy controls. In PD patients these were retained but their temporal recruitment was altered. This deviation was similar for self-recovered and failed-balance-recovery trials, although more pronounced in the latter. The significance of these findings was supported by correlations to clinical data and successful outcome-prediction.

Conclusions: The impairment of postural control in PD may result from an abnormal temporal recruitment of postural neuromuscular synergies.

Significance: The study provides further insight into the pathophysiology of impaired balance in PD. The ability to classify postural responses through the analysis of neuromuscular synergies may inform the design of fall detection and prevention devices.