RESUMO
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of short-term immobilization on the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) force. The first dorsal interosseus (FDI) of 10 healthy male adults was immobilized for 1 week using casting tape. Atrophy of the muscle was estimated from a cross sectional view of magnetic resonance images (MRI) . To clarify the factors of a peripheral neuromuscular system contributing to the change in the MVC force, twitch force at rest was measured. The contribution of central factors was estimated from a voluntary activation (VA) index, which was obtained by the twitch interpolation method.<BR>The MRI showed no significant changes in the cross sectional area. The MVC force declined after immobilization (p<0.01), and recovered after 1 week from the termination of immobilization (p<0.01) . Both the twitch force at rest and the VA at MVC declined after immobilization (p<0.01), and recovered after 1 week (p<0.05) .<BR>The results indicate that the temporary decline of the MVC force was not accompanied by atrophy of the muscle. Furthermore the decline of the MVC was caused both by the deterioration of peripheral and central functions in the neuromuscular system. Possible factors in the peripheral and central neuromuscular systems affected by the immobilization were discussed.