Effects of Tai Chi Chuan combined with vibration training on the reflex activity of peripheral neuron

Objective: To investigate the effects of Tai Chi Chuan combined with vibration training on the excitability of α-motorneuron pool and γ-reflex arc. Methods: 55 healthy college students were divided into Tai Chi Chuan + vibration training (TAV) group, Tai Chi Chuan training (TAI) group, vibration training (VB) group, and control group (CON) for 8 weeks with 3 times training per week. Each time at pre-and post-training, H-reflex and M-wave were recorded by electrical stimulus induced on soleus muscle. T-reflex was also collected by knocking on the Achill tendon. Results: After 8-week training, the ratios of H_max/M_max and T-reflex/M_max in VB group were significantly decreased (P<0.05), while the ratio of T-reflex/M_max in TAV group was significantly increased (P<0.05), and the change percentage of T-reflex/M_max was significantly higher than that in VB group (P<0.05). Conclusions: Although the vibration training could decrease the resting excitability of α-motorneuron pool, the Tai Chi Chuan combined with vibration training could give the muscle spindle stronger excitement so as to further induce the high excitability of γ-reflex arc. It indicated that the Tai Chi Chuan combined with vibration training is feasible since the neural adaptation around peripheral neuron system could be induced after such kind of training.