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J Neurophysiol 88:1177-1184, 2002.
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J Neurophysiol
88: 1177–1184, 2002; 10.1152/jn.00823.2000.
Westgaard, R. H., P. Bonato, and K. A. Holte. Low-frequency fascial pain syndrome) (Goldenberg 1993; McCain and Scudds
oscillations (⬍0.3 Hz) in the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the 1988). We therefore conducted a study with surface electro-
human trapezius muscle during sleep. J Neurophysiol 88: 1177–1184, myographic (EMG) recordings from the trapezius muscles to
2002; 10.1152/jn.00823.2000. The surface electromyographic (EMG) investigate possible association between EMG activity during
signal from right and left trapezius muscles and the heart rate were
recorded over 24 h in 27 healthy female subjects. The root-mean-
sleep and sleep quality, including subjectively experienced
square (RMS) value of the surface EMG signals and the heartbeat overnight discomfort or pain. In a few supplementary record-
Address for reprint requests: R. H. Westgaard, Institute of Industrial Eco- The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment
nomics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked ‘‘advertisement’’
Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway. in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
www.jn.org 0022-3077/02 $5.00 Copyright © 2002 The American Physiological Society 1177
1178 R. H. WESTGAARD, P. BONATO, AND K. A. HOLTE
most cases were physically able to provide for themselves. Outside 10 Hz. On transfer of data to a stationary PC, the time resolution was
working hours the subjects carried out their normal activities without reduced to 0.2 s by averaging adjacent data points.
receiving any instructions as to preferred or restricted activities. They Before the ambulatory recording, a maximal voluntary contraction
were not instructed with respect to the use of caffeine or other (MVC) in 90° arm abduction was performed twice by the subject to
stimulants. Another five females, recruited from the same subject acquire the maximal EMG amplitude. This was used as a reference
base, participated in supplementary experiments with simultaneous value to calibrate the EMG response during the ambulatory recordings
recordings of trapezius and upper extremity muscles. (% EMGmax) (Jensen et al. 1996). Daytime results are not reported in
Electrocardiographic (EKG) and surface EMG signals were con- this paper; however, the trapezius muscle activity was generally low
tinuously recorded over a 24-h period. A lightweight, battery-powered in the awake state with the median EMG activity level for most
data monitor equipment (Physiometer, Premed) with data storage subjects in the range 2–5% EMGmax (Westgaard et al. 2001). The
provided by a flash card mounted in a pocket computer (HP 200LX, duration of the sleep period varied from 4.7 to 8.4 h, mean 6.8 h.
Hewlett-Packard) was used as the recording device. Electrodes for Onset of sleep was determined in these recordings by a sudden change
recording the EKG signal were placed in standard positions across the in the EMG activity pattern from irregular, phasic activity to no
chest. The surface representation of the cardiac potential with Q, R, activity, or presenting a dramatically changed pattern with near-
and S peaks (the QRS complex; Malik and Camm 1995) was detected. constant EMG amplitude and minimal temporal variation (cf. Fig. 1).
The intervals between the R peaks (RR intervals) were derived on a In five subjects, the upper trapezius EMG recordings were supple-
beat-by-beat basis. The surface EMG activity from left and right mented by EMG recordings from lower trapezius, deltoid, biceps, and
trapezius muscles was monitored by bipolar electrode pairs and in- forearm flexors (flexor carpi ulnaris, flexor digitorum superficialis).
cluded a ground electrode (10- to 800-Hz bandwidth). The EMG The bipolar electrode pairs were placed on the muscle bellies, and the
electrodes (circular with diameter 6 mm, Blue Sensor, E-10-vs, Medi- EMG signal calibrated by the EMG response in resisted MVCs with
cotest A/S) were placed on a line from the C7 vertebra to the acromion attempted movement in the muscle force direction. In these record-
process. The medial electrode was placed 2.5 cm lateral to the mid- ings, a strain gauge transducer placed around the chest monitored
point of the line and the inter-electrode distance was 20 mm. This respiratory activity.
marked and the RMS amplitude examined off-line. Such events were an obvious rhythmic component, and the results of the analysis
rare, ⬍0.1% of the data points, unless gross failures due to breakage of these 15 recordings are presented here. There was no ap-
of leads or unfastening of electrodes occurred. Of the 27 subjects, parent association between the EMG response and the shoulder
successful sleep recordings were obtained from right and/or left pain reported by the subjects.
trapezius in 44 cases, 22 from each side. Both recordings failed in four
subjects, one recording failed in two subjects. In the successful
Figures 1 and 2A illustrate the processing of one recording.
recordings, the RMS amplitude of data points marked by the artifact The typical appearance of RMS-detected muscle activity dur-
detection procedure rarely deviated significantly from neighboring ing sleep is shown in Fig. 1A. Long periods of elevated,
data points, and corrective measures were therefore not carried out. near-invariant EMG activity are interspersed between periods
The artifact detection procedure did not respond to interference from without discernable activity and short bursts of phasic activity,
the heartbeat, which could be particularly evident in recordings from presumably due to spontaneous shifts in posture.
the left upper trapezius during periods with low EMG activity. This Inspection of periods with elevated EMG activity at higher time
noise component in the EMG signal was dramatically attenuated resolution reveals low-frequency oscillatory behavior at frequen-
through digital filtering in the off-line data processing (cf. next sec- cies ⬍0.2 Hz as outlined by the square of the magnitude of the
tion). Fourier transform of the time series. This is illustrated in Fig. 1B
where three epochs selected from the RMS time series presented
Data processing in Fig. 1A are represented (marked S1–S3). These three epochs
have different mean values and frequency contents as pointed out
The time series constituted by the RMS values of the EMG signal
by the square of the magnitude of their Fourier transform (nor-
computed over 0.2-s time intervals was first low-pass filtered to
attenuate possible EKG interference. A Chebyshev (type II) low-pass malized) shown in the lower panels (Fig. 1, B and C). A trend of
filter was designed with transition band 0.70 – 0.75 Hz, 40 dB of larger amplitude oscillations with increasing mean EMG ampli-
attenuation in the stopband, and 1 dB maximum loss in the passband. tude is evident. At low activity levels the EMG signal was in some
(noisy) than the surface EMG time series recorded during sleep
thus preventing us from performing time-frequency analysis of
the MU activity; however, by use of an autoregressive tech-
nique, two distinct peaks in the firing rate modulation were
found, centered around 0.25 and 0.1 Hz, respectively. The
higher frequency peak presumably represents respiratory mod-
ulation, while the FM ⬃0.1 Hz may point to activation by the
same premotor pathways that cause muscle activity modulation
during sleep.
DISCUSSION
The time intervals of relatively constant EMG amplitude are the AM of the surface EMG should be observable. This be-
preceded and followed by abrupt changes in the EMG signal. havior is rarely observed, possibly because many premotor
We suggest that these abrupt changes are related to postural pathways without oscillatory patterning contribute to the exci-
adjustments. In this case, we expect a displacement between tation of motoneurons in the awake state.
the surface electrodes and the muscle fibers from which the The observation of low-frequency, rhythmic MU firing
EMG data are recorded; however, our previous work suggests when awake, if confirmed in more extended analyses, may
that this displacement is unlikely to affect the EMG amplitude implicate mechanisms and pathways other than cortical rhyth-
at the chosen electrode location for trapezius (Jensen et al. mic activity influencing motoneuron firing through cortico-
1993b). spinal pathways. One alternative is activity in premotor mono-
Recent developments in sleep research describe physiolog- aminergic pathways from the brain stem. These include
ical phenomena that may be associated with the rhythmic
serotonergic pathways from the raphe nuclei (Holstege 1991;
component of modulation of the muscle activity reported in
Jacobs and Fornal 1997) and noradrenergic pathways from
this study. Because we documented that the FM of the ob-
served rhythmic component is consistent for right and left locus coeruleus (Jacobs et al. 1991). The activity of serotoner-
trapezius muscles and for muscles further separated, we dis- gic raphe neurons is generally described as regular or “clock-
cuss in the following “central” mechanisms that could be like” firing at 3– 4 Hz. Slow modulation of this activity at
related to this phenomenon. We have, however, no explanation frequencies similar to those observed in this study is reported
for the phenomenon of dual frequency components appearing (Montagne-Clavel et al. 1995). The envelope of this FM may
in some, but not all muscles. cause AM of the muscle activity pattern with a frequency
The presence of widespread slow waves (⬍1 Hz) in the content as herein documented. Different activity patterns
cortical electroencephalogram has been reported (Steriade et within the raphe nuclei (Trulson and Trulson 1982) or between
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