Trapezius Muscle Activity Increases During Near Work Activity Regardless of Accommodation/vergence Demand Level

Overview

Journal Eur J Appl Physiol

Specialty Physiology

Date 2015 Feb 21

PMID 25697148

Citations 5

Authors

H O Richter

C Zetterberg

M Forsman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Aim: To investigate if trapezius muscle activity increases over time during visually demanding near work.

Methods: The vision task consisted of sustained focusing on a contrast-varying black and white Gabor grating. Sixty-six participants with a median age of 38 (range 19-47) fixated the grating from a distance of 65 cm (1.5 D) during four counterbalanced 7-min periods: binocularly through -3.5 D lenses, and monocularly through -3.5 D, 0 D and +3.5 D. Accommodation, heart rate variability and trapezius muscle activity were recorded in parallel.

Results: General estimating equation analyses showed that trapezius muscle activity increased significantly over time in all four lens conditions. A concurrent effect of accommodation response on trapezius muscle activity was observed with the minus lenses irrespective of whether incongruence between accommodation and convergence was present or not.

Conclusions: Trapezius muscle activity increased significantly over time during the near work task. The increase in muscle activity over time may be caused by an increased need of mental effort and visual attention to maintain performance during the visual tasks to counteract mental fatigue.

Citing Articles

Effects of school myopia management measures on myopia onset and progression among Chinese primary school students.

Shi J, Wang Y, Lyu P, Hu J, Wen X, Shi H BMC Public Health. 2023; 23(1):1819.

PMID: 37726699 PMC: 10508019. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16719-z.

Effectiveness of an Eye-Cervical Re-Education Program in Chronic Neck Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Perez-Cabezas V, Ruiz-Molinero C, Jimenez-Rejano J, Chamorro-Moriana G, Gonzalez-Medina G, Chillon-Martinez R Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020; 2020:2760413.

PMID: 32184889 PMC: 7061123. DOI: 10.1155/2020/2760413.

Nonstrabismic binocular dysfunctions and cervical complaints: The possibility of a cross-dysfunction.

Sanchez-Gonzalez M, Perez-Cabezas V, Gutierrez-Sanchez E, Ruiz-Molinero C, Rebollo-Salas M, Jimenez-Rejano J PLoS One. 2019; 14(1):e0209710.

PMID: 30645581 PMC: 6333362. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209710.

Prefrontal Cortex Oxygenation Evoked by Convergence Load Under Conflicting Stimulus-to-Accommodation and Stimulus-to-Vergence Eye-Movements Measured by NIRS.

Richter H, Forsman M, Elcadi G, Brautaset R, Marsh J, Zetterberg C Front Hum Neurosci. 2018; 12:298.

PMID: 30104967 PMC: 6077206. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00298.

Reliability and Validity of the Visual, Musculoskeletal, and Balance Complaints Questionnaire.

Lundqvist L, Zetterlund C, Richter H Optom Vis Sci. 2016; 93(9):1147-57.

PMID: 27309524 PMC: 5006798. DOI: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000000902.

References

Hanley J, Negassa A, Edwardes M, Forrester J . Statistical analysis of correlated data using generalized estimating equations: an orientation. Am J Epidemiol. 2003; 157(4):364-75. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwf215. View

Faber L, Maurits N, Lorist M . Mental fatigue affects visual selective attention. PLoS One. 2012; 7(10):e48073. PMC: 3485293. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048073. View

. Transient myopia after visual work. Ergonomics. 1984; 27(11):1181-9. DOI: 10.1080/00140138408963599. View

Jonsson B . Measurement and evaluation of local muscular strain in the shoulder during constrained work. J Hum Ergol (Tokyo). 1982; 11(1):73-88. View

FINCHAM E, Walton J . The reciprocal actions of accommodation and convergence. J Physiol. 1957; 137(3):488-508. PMC: 1363021. DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.1957.sp005829. View

Atchison D, Capper E, McCabe K . Critical subjective measurement of amplitude of accommodation. Optom Vis Sci. 1994; 71(11):699-706. DOI: 10.1097/00006324-199411000-00005. View

Nakagawa S, Sugiura M, Akitsuki Y, Hosseini S, Kotozaki Y, Miyauchi C . Compensatory effort parallels midbrain deactivation during mental fatigue: an fMRI study. PLoS One. 2013; 8(2):e56606. PMC: 3573002. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056606. View

Thorn S, Sogaard K, Kallenberg L, Sandsjo L, Sjogaard G, Hermens H . Trapezius muscle rest time during standardised computer work--a comparison of female computer users with and without self-reported neck/shoulder complaints. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2006; 17(4):420-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2006.04.010. View

Kreczy A, Kofler M, Gschwendtner A . Underestimated health hazard: proposal for an ergonomic microscope workstation. Lancet. 1999; 354(9191):1701-2. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(99)03131-1. View

10.

Krupinski E, Berbaum K . Measurement of visual strain in radiologists. Acad Radiol. 2009; 16(8):947-50. PMC: 2706933. DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2009.02.008. View

11.

Richter H, Banziger T, Abdi S, Forsman M . Stabilization of gaze: a relationship between ciliary muscle contraction and trapezius muscle activity. Vision Res. 2010; 50(23):2559-69. DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2010.08.021. View

12.

Grauer R, Dunn B . Central fatigue in a perstimulatory paradigm. J Aud Res. 1980; 20(2):97-106. View

13.

Gu Y, Legge G . Accommodation to stimuli in peripheral vision. J Opt Soc Am A. 1987; 4(8):1681-7. DOI: 10.1364/josaa.4.001681. View

14.

Woolfson M, Peasgood W, Sahota D, Crowe J . Signal processing of the fetal electrocardiogram. J Electrocardiol. 1990; 23 Suppl:51-7. DOI: 10.1016/0022-0736(90)90075-d. View

15.

Mathiassen S, Winkel J, Hagg G . Normalization of surface EMG amplitude from the upper trapezius muscle in ergonomic studies - A review. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2010; 5(4):197-226. DOI: 10.1016/1050-6411(94)00014-x. View

16.

Bababekova Y, Rosenfield M, Hue J, Huang R . Font size and viewing distance of handheld smart phones. Optom Vis Sci. 2011; 88(7):795-7. DOI: 10.1097/OPX.0b013e3182198792. View

17.

Blehm C, Vishnu S, Khattak A, Mitra S, Yee R . Computer vision syndrome: a review. Surv Ophthalmol. 2005; 50(3):253-62. DOI: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2005.02.008. View

18.

Gobba F, Broglia A, Sarti R, Luberto F, Cavalleri A . Visual fatigue in video display terminal operators: objective measure and relation to environmental conditions. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1988; 60(2):81-7. DOI: 10.1007/BF00381485. View

19.

CAMPBELL F . The minimum quantity of light required to elicit the accommodation reflex in man. J Physiol. 1954; 123(2):357-66. PMC: 1366207. DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.1954.sp005056. View

20.

Richter H, Knez I . Superior short-wavelength contrast sensitivity in asthenopics during reflexive readjustments of ocular accommodation. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2007; 27(4):361-72. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-1313.2007.00494.x. View