Regional neuromuscular regulation within human rectus femoris muscle during gait in young and elderly men

Recently, we demonstrated region-specific electromyography (EMG) responses along the rectus femoris (RF) muscle during gait in healthy young men (Watanabe et al., 2014b). For the RF muscle, regional EMG response should be tested to characterize neuromuscular control and/or to assess its dysfunction and/or pathology during gait. We aimed to identify spatial distribution of EMG pattern within the RF muscle in elderly during gait. Seven young men (age: 20.4±1.0 years) and 8 elderly men (age: 73.8±5.9 years) walked on treadmill with three different speed: slow (preferred −1 km/h), preferred, and fast (preferred +1 km/h). The spatial distribution of surface EMG was tested by central locus activation (CLA), which is calculated from 18 surface electrodes along the longitudinal line of the muscle. CLA were not different between the groups for slow and preferred gait speed (p>0.05) during a gait cycle. In fast gait speed, CLA at 80% of a gait cycle (swing phase) for the elderly were significantly located at more distal site than the young group (p<0.05) (13.0±2.1 cm and 10.2±2.2 cm from most proximal electrodes for the elderly and young). This difference in CLA reflected a significantly lower EMG activity at the proximal regions in the elderly group (p<0.05). These results suggest the elderly manifest characteristic regional EMG responses within the RF muscle for leg swing movement of fast speed gait.