Mechanisms associated with altering synergistic behaviour of skeletal muscle

The major focus of this research program is to provide objective information on trunk muscle activity and trunk motion that can be used to help develop injury prevention, rehabilitation and treatment programs for low back injury/pain. The huge economic burden associated with low back injuries, many of which occur in occupational settings, requires attention given its impact on the individual and society. Many problems with the low back that are not related to a specific disease or injury to a physical structure such as the disc are related to changes in the muscle function. Thus understanding how the muscles work together to perform a task or to protect the spine is important to a number of areas. First in many occupations anatomical structures in the low back can be injured and altering the design of tasks relies on good ergonomic assessments which in many instances means we have to know what stresses are placed on the muscles and how could this be altered to reduce the risk of low back injuries. Secondly in the clinical setting if the muscles are affected by low back pain we need to be able to accurately detect those changes and monitor those changes using good diagnostic and monitoring techniques. Thirdly this information can then be used to improve the design of rehabilitation and treatment programs. My research program attempts to understand the relationship amongst muscles of the back and abdomen while people perform different tasks. We know that the muscles have altered patterns of activity in those that have low back pain, but what are the factors that alter these patterns. The proposed work will begin to determine how these are patterns are altered by looking at a number of different factors including when the task is changed, when the person is fatigued, and when the person has a low back injury. We record electrical activity patterns from a large number of muscles as well as measure how the back moves. We have a novel approach that allows us to study all of the relationships among the various muscles and it has increased our understanding of how the muscles work together. The long term goal is to reduce low back injuries both recurrent and new.