Gain modulation of the middle latency cutaneous reflex in patients with chronic joint instability after ankle sprain

Is there “arthrogenic inhibition” of cutaneous reflexes in subjects with functional ankle instability?

“…This result was thought to partially account for the frequently reported sensation of the ankle "giving way" in those with functional ankle instability. The present results of Futatsubashi et al (2013) agree well with the latter study and they can be seen in the same context. A higher "gain" of the suppressive responses is likely to facilitate unloading, along the same line as discussed above for "arthrogenic muscle inhibition".…”

“…These findings were extended to the ankle by Aimonetti et al (2007) by showing that cutaneous afferents provide a neuronal population vector that encodes the orientation of human ankle movements. Movements of the ankle are coded by afferents in the sural nerve (a cutaneous nerve, as also used in the present paper by Futatsubashi et al, 2013). These afferents are also capable of monitoring foot contact with the ground during the stance phase of gait (Sinkjaer et al, 1994).…”

“…In fact, Komiyama, one of the authors of the presently published paper (Futatsubashi et al, 2013), has contributed substantially to the study of cutaneous reflexes during gait. He and others showed that these reflexes are heavily modulated during gait and yield very different behavioral consequences dependent on the phase of the movement (Zehr et al, 1997).…”

“…Therefore the work by Futatsubashi et al (2013) is very timely. In a careful study in patients with chronic ankle instability they were able to show that suppressive responses were more pronounced in peroneus longus and vastus lateralis muscles on the injured side compared to the uninjured side and compared to the control subjects.…”

“…A higher "gain" of the suppressive responses is likely to facilitate unloading, along the same line as discussed above for "arthrogenic muscle inhibition". Hence the results of Futatsubashi et al (2013) can be seen as "arthrogenic inhibition" of cutaneous reflexes (enhancement of suppressive responses).…”