Inter-muscular coherence in speed skaters with skater's cramp

B. Nijenhuis*, M. A.J. Tijssen, T. van Zutphen, J. van der Eb, E. Otten, J. W. Elting

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
62 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Introduction: Skater's cramp is a career-ending movement disorder in expert speed skaters noted to be a likely task-specific dystonia. In other movement disorders, including task-specific dystonia, studies have found evidence of central dysregulation expressed as higher inter-muscular coherence. We looked at whether inter-muscular coherence was higher in affected skaters as a possible indicator that it is centrally driven, and by extension further evidence it is a task-specific dystonia.

Methods: In 14 affected and 14 control skaters we calculated inter-muscular coherence in the theta-band in a stationary task where tonic muscle activation was measured at 10%, 20% and 50% of maximum voluntary contraction. Additionally, we calculated wavelet coherence while skating at key moments in the stroke cycle.

Results: Coherence did not differ in the stationary activation task. While skating, coherence was higher in the impacted leg of affected skaters compared to their non-impacted leg, p = .05, η2 = 0.031, and amplitude of electromyography correlated with coherence in the impacted leg, p = .009, R2adjusted = 0.41. A sub-group of severely affected skaters (n = 6) had higher coherence in the impacted leg compared to the left and right leg of controls, p = .02, Cohen's d = 1.59 and p = .01, Cohen's d = 1.63 respectively. Results were less clear across the entire affected cohort probably due to a diverse case-mix.

Conclusion: Our results of higher coherence in certain severe cases of skater's cramp is preliminary evidence of a central dysregulation, making the likelihood it is a task-specific dystonia higher.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105250
Number of pages10
JournalParkinsonism & Related Disorders
Volume107
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb-2023

Keywords

  • Dystonia
  • Inter-muscular coherence
  • Speed skating

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