Differences in cortical activation during anterior tibial translation between females with high and low laxity
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Beth R. Bacon (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Randy Schmitz
Abstract: Over 200,000 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur each year. Noncontact mechanisms during sport account for ~70% of these injuries. Greater anterior knee laxity (AKL) is an established independent risk factor of ACL injuries in females. While the mechanical aspects of increased AKL have been studied, relatively little is known about the neural aspects of the ACL in regard to how relates to increased AKL. The purpose of this study is to investigate differences in somatosensory cortical activity between high and low knee laxity individuals. Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to measure contralateral somatosensory cortical activation during passive anterior tibial translations (ATT) in females with high and low knee laxity across 3 joint loading phases (LP) (LP1, 0-65N; LP2, 65-130N; LP3, 130N hold for 1 second). Results indicated no difference in cortical activation between females with high and low AKL during passive loading of the knee joint across the 3 loading phases. This suggests that despite mechanical differences at the knee, sensory information traveling from the knee joint to the somatosensory cortex is similar in females with high and low laxity. While there were no between group differences there was a trend (p = .07) in the decrease of cortical activation from LP1 to LP3 within groups. With more exploration of this decrease in activity this information could better help explain the roles of the mechanoreceptors in and round the knee joint during joint loading. This study represents a primary step taken to understand the neural role of the ACL during joint loading with a long-term vision of attempting to develop brain-based interventions in effort to reduce ACL injuries. To build upon this, this data should be further investigated to look at differences in the latency of the signal from the knee to the brain to see if there is a difference in how rapidly the signal travels to the somatosensory cortex between groups.
Differences in cortical activation during anterior tibial translation between females with high and low laxity
PDF (Portable Document Format)
948 KB
Created on 8/1/2023
Views: 45
Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2023
- Keywords
- ACL injury, ACL injury prevention, Cortical activation, EEG, Knee joint loading, Knee laxity
- Subjects
- Anterior cruciate ligament $x Wounds and injuries
- Joints $x Hypermobility
- Somatosensory cortex
- Women athletes $x Wounds and injuries