Anthony Johnson
California State University, Bakersfield
Arthrokinetic Reflex Impact on Motor Learning and Control Arthrokinectic is the scientific word for joint movement. A reflex is an involuntary movement caused by a stimulus (Hargrove, 2012). The term, Arthrokinectic reflex, is used to define the stimulation of certain muscles due to reflexing from sensory input of joint movement (Hargrove, 2012). This theory was originally supported by an experiment where scientist deactivated a cat’s brain and were still able to create changes in the muscle tone in the legs by moving the knee (Hargrove, 2012). Depending on the sensory information, arthrokinectic reflex can potentially have an undesirable effect on motor learning and control because it can increase protective activity such as stiffness, pain, weakness, and a change in coordination (Hargrove, 2012). Once sensory information reports some sort of risk to the brain, the effects on motor learning can be bad. Movement skills …show more content…
(2002) used a control group and experimental group to determine the effect of mobilization of the anterior hip capsule on the strength of the gluteus maximus. For this experiment, the peak torque was determined by participants completing a pretest and a posttest of five isometric repetition on the Cybex Norm isokinetic machine (Yerys et al., 2002). A significant difference between the control and experimental group was found through the results. Yerys et al. (2002) discussed how the results from the experimental group determined the role of the capsular mechanoreceptors and the arthrokinetic reflex are essential in facilitating an increase in the strength of the gluteus maximus. Overall, it is important for therapists to be aware of the need to evaluate muscle weakness due to the consequences of joint restriction, which will help improve client outcomes (Yerys et al.,