Increasing corticospinal excitability in the antagonist muscle during muscle relaxation with a tracking task

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate corticospinal excitability changes during muscle relaxation with a tracking task. The motor-evoked potential, which was elicited from the flexor carpi radialis (agonist) and extensor carpi radialis (antagonist) muscles, was analyzed in terms of both the relaxation velocity and phase. Our results suggest that increasing corticospinal excitability in the antagonist muscle plays an important role in controlling the relaxation of the agonist muscle during gradual relaxation with a tracking task.

• Antagonist muscle
• muscle relaxation
• tracking task

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.