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 language | English |
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Article number | 103159 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-11 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Human Movement Science |
Volume | 92 |
Early online date | 17 Nov 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 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].
Funders | Funder number |
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Dutch Organization for Scientific Research : Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | |
Dutch Organization for Scientific Research: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | |
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | 0.23 0.12 0.25 |
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek |
Keywords
- Motor control
- Neuromotor noise
- Perturbation response
- Psychological risk factors
- Variability