The effect of choice reaction time task on pre-landing muscle timing in athletes with and without chronic ankle instability

Abstract

Introduction:The assessment of neuromuscular control strategies, especially investigating muscle timing and anticipation in muscles, is important to improve our knowledge about ankle instability and preliminary mechanisms of it. The goals of the present study were comparing reaction time, its components and anticipation time in athletes with and without chronic ankle instability after 'go signal' provided by visual choice reaction time task. Methods: Nineteen athletes [11 healthy athletes, 8 athletes with chronic ankle instability (CAI)] participated in this cross-sectional study with research laboratory setting. The subjects started forward jumping protocol while electromyographic data were recorded from their leg muscles included gastroc-soleus, peroneus longus, peroneus brevis, and tibialis anterior. of the tested leg and tested group: P=0.032, F=5.434; and P=0.040, F=4.937, respectively). Results: The results of two-way repeated measurement ANOVA revealed no significant difference in athletes with and without CAI except for pre-motor time and motor time of peroneus longus (interaction effectsConclusion: Some differences in timing of peroneus longus were seen, so it suggest that clinicians should pay extra attention to muscle timing and consider its recovery in rehabilitation protocols. Besides it seems that some of the non-significant results might be related to neuromuscular adaptation that occurred in field athletes. Further study with larger sample size was suggested. Level of evidence: 3b.

Muscle activations during functional tasks in individuals with chronic ankle instability: a systematic review of electromyographical studies

“…It was also reported that in forward jumping after a visual stimulus, PL pre-motor time (i.e., the time between visual stimulus and the onset of EMG signal) was shorter in CAI participants, and PL motor time (i.e., the time between onset of the EMG and onset of the motion) was longer in CAI participants. No differences between-groups were found for PB, TA or SOL [59,60].…”

“…It seems that CAI individuals have an abnormal timing of PL activation, since one study found a longer latency of activation while landing on a tilting platform [12]. Another study reported a longer PL motor time, i.e., the time between onset of the EMG and onset of the motion [59], and a third study found that CAI participants had a simultaneous activation of PL, TA and GL, while controls activated TA later than the other two muscles [67]. A large variability in the task execution, muscle investigated, and EMG analysis performed was found when considering the amplitude of the EMG signal in landing and hopping.…”

The comparison of dynamic postural control and muscle activity in time domain in athletes with and without chronic ankle instability

“…Original article © C I C E d i z i o n i I n t e r n a z i o n a l i traction, is a prevalent finding in patients with ankle instability [8][9][10][11][12] . On the other hand, some studies showed no impairments in peroneus longus activity [13][14][15] .…”

Comparison of distal versus proximal-distal kinesio taping effects on gait initiation profile in athletes with functional ankle instability

“…The high rate of sprains among all the sports and consequently its negative consequences such as participa-tion limitation in the tournaments, necessitates preventive approaches (3). In our previous studies, participants with chronic ankle instability (CAI) demonstrated delayed muscle activation, reduced strength and contraction duration in their peroneus longus (4,5). A number of studies have shown that patients with functional ankle instability (FAI) are more dependent on the hip strategy rather than ankle strategy.…”