Tone Basics
The tension in a muscle at any given moment between its origin and insertion.
What is muscle tone?
A state of low muscle tone.
What is hypotonia?
Motor neurons that travel from the brain to the spinal cord.
What are upper motor neurons?
Motor neurons that run from the spinal cord to the muscle.
What are lower motor neurons?
A condition commonly associated with hypertonicity.
What is stroke (CVA) or cerebral palsy?
Muscle tension is influenced by mechanical factors and this neural factor.
What is motor unit activity?
Complete loss of muscle tone, often with loss of strength.
What is Flaccidity?
Increased reflexes commonly seen with these lesions.
What are UMN lesions?
Reflexes that are depressed or absent in LMN lesions.
What are deep tendon reflexes?
A bedside scale commonly used to assess spasticity.
What is the Modified Ashworth Scale?
Increased muscle tension often associated with UMN lesions.
What is hypertonicity?
Flaccidity is most commonly associated with this type of motor neuron lesion
What is a lower motor neuron lesion?
A classic sign of UMN damage involving great toe extension.
What is the Babinski sign?
Facial nerve involvement causing unilateral facial weakness.
What is Bell’s palsy?
A rhythmic oscillation seen with UMN lesions during rapid stretch.
What is clonus?
Decreased muscle tension often associated with weakness.
What is hypotonicity?
Loss of both strength and tone.
What is flaccid paralysis?
Loss of selective voluntary motor control leading to stereotyped movement patterns following a CNS lesion.
What are abnormal (obligatory) synergies?
Weak or absent voluntary movement seen with LMN damage.
What is paresis or paralysis?
UE muscle groups commonly affected by flexor spasticity after CVA.
What are elbow flexors, finger flexors, and internal rotators?
Muscle tone reflects the interaction between passive mechanical properties of muscle–tendon units and this neural mechanism that modulates baseline tension even at rest.
What is alpha motor neuron activity via the stretch reflex (muscle spindle input)?
The Brunnstrom stage immediately following a CVA characterized by no voluntary movement.
What is Stage 1: Flaccidity?
Involuntary muscle contractions, abnormal synergies, and impaired voluntary movement.
What are UMN characteristics?
Hypotonia, absent reflexes, weakness, and muscle atrophy.
What are LMN characteristics?
PT goals should focus on this rather than changing spasticity itself.
What is function or activity-level performance?