Surface electromyography reveals males have a slower patellar reflex than females

Vickery, Helen S.F.; Smith, Paul A.

Abstract

In humans the cross sectional area of spinal motor neurons at L3 is larger in males than in females. Since these contribute to the control of the quadriceps femoris muscle group and are involved in the patellar reflex (PR), gender differences in the PR are expected. We have investigated this possibility using a group of 28 young subjects (14 male and 14 female) aged 20-22. years. The PR was quantified by the muscle compound action potential (MCAP) from the surface electromyogram (sEMG) of the vastus lateralis muscle. We found that the PR latency in females (17 ± 0.19. ms), was significantly (p

Citation

Vickery, H. S., & Smith, P. A. (2012). Surface electromyography reveals males have a slower patellar reflex than females. Journal of Electro - myography and Kinesiology, 22(6), 990-996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2012.06.001

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 6, 2012
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2012
• Deposit Date: Jan 21, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
• Print ISSN: 1050-6411
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-5711
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 990-996
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2012.06.001
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3151444
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1050641112001101