Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41530822›Full record

ArticleJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2026

Adaptation of motor unit synergies in the synergetic ankle plantarflexors in ambulatory persons with incomplete spinal cord injury.

Zhihao Duan, Asta Kizyte, Emelie Butler Forslund, Elena M Gutierrez-Farewik, Pawel Herman, Ruoli Wang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Zhihao DuanDepartment of Engineering Mechanics, KTH MoveAbility, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden.
Asta KizyteDepartment of Engineering Mechanics, KTH MoveAbility, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden.
Emelie Butler ForslundDepartment of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 141 83, Stockholm, Sweden.
Elena M Gutierrez-FarewikDepartment of Engineering Mechanics, KTH MoveAbility, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden.
Pawel HermanDivision of Computational Science and Technology, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Digital Future, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ruoli WangDepartment of Engineering Mechanics, KTH MoveAbility, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden. ruoli@kth.se.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSpinal cord injury (SCI) often results in impaired motor control and coordination. Previous studies have highlighted the role of muscle synergies in coordinating motor tasks and their alterations following SCI. However, the adaptation in muscle synergy patterns at the motor unit (MU) level after SCI remains unexplored. This study aimed to investigate MU synergies and clustering in the synergetic soleus and gastrocnemius medialis (GM) muscles and to explore how these patterns are altered in persons with SCI.

methodsHigh-density electromyography (HD-EMG) was used to record MU activity in the soleus and GM muscles of fifteen participants with incomplete SCI and ten non-disabled participants during 20% and 50% maximal voluntary isometric contraction tasks. The HD-EMG signals were decomposed into individual MU spike trains. Inter-muscle coherence analysis was employed to evaluate the shared neural drive between the soleus and GM muscles, and factor analysis was performed to identify synergistic clusters of MUs innervating each muscle.

resultsThe results showed that both participant groups demonstrated high coherence between the soleus and GM muscles, highlighting a shared neural drive for coordinated function. However, participants with SCI showed altered coherence in the delta frequency band, with significantly higher coherence observed at 50% maximal voluntary contraction (p = 0.047). Additionally, factor analysis revealed that participants with SCI had a reduced proportion of MUs in the shared cluster within the GM muscle at 20% maximal voluntary contraction (p < 0.01).

conclusionsThese findings suggested that SCI may disrupt MU synergies and clustering, potentially impairing motor coordination. This research offered valuable insights into the underlying mechanism of muscle synergies and the neural adaptations following SCI, providing crucial information for the development of future rehabilitation strategies.

Indexed as

Adaptation, PhysiologicalAnkleMotor NeuronsMuscle, SkeletalSpinal Cord InjuriesAdultElectromyographyFemaleHumansIsometric ContractionMaleMiddle AgedCoherence analysisFactor analysisHD-EMG decompositionMotor unit clusteringMuscle synergies

Identifiers

PMID41530822
PMCPMC12849599

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.