Effect of Muscle Pain on Motor Control: A Human Experimental Approach

Abstract

Deep pain has the potential to affect daily movements. The effect of muscle pain per se on co-ordination during movement is not fully understood. Experimental muscle pain induced in healthy subjects might help to elucidate the basic interaction between muscle pain, muscle activity, and muscle co-ordination. Mechanical, chemical, thermal, or electrical stimuli can experimentally activate muscle receptors that signal noxious input. In this paper, endogenous and exogenous methods to induce human muscle pain are discussed. The experimental model mainly used is intramuscular (i.m.) injection of hypertonic saline, as it is safe and it induces local and referred muscle pain that can be quantified. This experimental model of muscle pain has been used extensively to assess the interaction between muscle pain and motor control in order to obtain a better understanding of the basic pain mechanisms. The interaction between muscle pain and motor control depends on the motor task (rest, static, and dynamic contractions...