Back to Search
Start Over
Electromyographic activity of mystacial pad musculature during whisking behavior in the rat.
- Source :
-
Somatosensory & motor research [Somatosens Mot Res] 1991; Vol. 8 (2), pp. 159-64. - Publication Year :
- 1991
-
Abstract
- Cinematographic measurements of whisker movements generated by behaving rats were compared with electromyographic (EMG) activity recorded simultaneously from mystacial pad musculature. Muscle activity consisted of repetitive bursts, each of which initiated a "whisking" cycle consisting of a protraction followed by a retraction. Protraction amplitude and velocity were directly proportional to the amount of EMG activity during forward whisker movement. Overtime, the intensity of muscle discharge determined the set point about which the vibrissae moved; higher levels of muscle activity resulted in a greater degree of overall whisker protraction. These findings are consistent with the known anatomy of the facial musculature and underscore the importance of whisker protraction in the acquisition of tactile information by the vibrissae.
- Subjects :
- Animals
Discrimination Learning physiology
Electric Stimulation
Evoked Potentials physiology
Facial Nerve physiology
Female
Mechanoreceptors physiology
Rats
Reaction Time physiology
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted instrumentation
Electromyography instrumentation
Facial Muscles innervation
Motor Neurons physiology
Muscle Contraction physiology
Vibrissae innervation
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0899-0220
- Volume :
- 8
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Somatosensory & motor research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 1887726
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3109/08990229109144740