Trunk resistance to mechanical perturbations, associations with low back pain, pain-related cognitions and movement precision

Meta H. Wildenbeest*, Henri Kiers, Matthijs Tuijt, Maarten R. Prins, Jaap H. van Dieën

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Background: Pain-related cognitions are associated with motor control changes in people with chronic low-back pain (CLBP). The mechanism underlying this association is unclear. We propose that perceived threat increases muscle-spindle-reflex-gains, which reduces the effect of mechanical perturbations, and simultaneously decreases movement precision. Aim: To evaluate effects of CLBP and pain-related cognitions on the impact of mechanical perturbations on trunk movement, and associations between these perturbation effects and movement precision. Methods: 30 participants with CLBP and 30 healthy controls, performed two consecutive trials of a seated repetitive reaching task. During both trials participants were warned for mechanical perturbations, which were only administered during the second trial. The perturbation effect was characterized by the deviation of the trajectory of the T8 vertebra relative to the sacrum. Trunk movement precision was expressed as tracking error during a trunk movement target tracking task. We assessed pain-related cognitions with the task-specific ‘Expected Back Strain’-scale (EBS). We used a two-way-Anova to assess the effect of Group (CLBP vs back-healthy) and dichotomized EBS (higher vs lower) on the perturbation effect, and a Pearson's correlation to assess associations between perturbation effects and movement precision. Findings: Higher EBS was associated with smaller perturbation effects (p ≤ 0.011). A negative correlation was found between the perturbation effect and the tracking error, in the higher EBS-group (r = −0.5, p = 0.013). Interpretation: These results demonstrate that pain-related cognitions influence trunk movement control and support the idea that more negative pain-related cognitions lead to an increased resistance against perturbations, at the expense of movement precision.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103159
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalHuman Movement Science
Volume92
Early online date17 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research : Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), The Hague, The Netherlands [Grant number 0.23 0.12 0.25 ].

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), The Hague, The Netherlands [Grant number 0.23 0.12 0.25].

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

Funding

This work was supported by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research : Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), The Hague, The Netherlands [Grant number 0.23 0.12 0.25 ]. This work was supported by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), The Hague, The Netherlands [Grant number 0.23 0.12 0.25].

FundersFunder number
Dutch Organization for Scientific Research : Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Dutch Organization for Scientific Research: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek0.23 0.12 0.25
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

    Keywords

    • Motor control
    • Neuromotor noise
    • Perturbation response
    • Psychological risk factors
    • Variability

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