Analysis of a muscular control system in human movements

Abstract

In this work, we have studied a muscular control system under experimental conditions for analyzing the dynamic behavior of individual muscles and theoretical considerations for elucidating its control strategy. Movement of human limbs is achieved by joint torques and each torque is specified as the sum of torques generated by muscle forces. The behavior of individual muscles is controlled by the neural input which is estimated by means of an electromyogram (EMG). In this study, the EMGs for a flexor and an extensor are measured in elbow joint movements and the dynamic behavior of individual muscles is analyzed. As a result, it is verified that both a flexor and an extensor are activated throughout the entire movement and that the activation of muscles is controlled above a specific limit independent of the hand-held load. Subsequently, a system model for simulating elbow joint movements is developed which includes the muscle dynamic relationship between the neural input and the isometric force. The minimum limit of muscle activation that has been confirmed in experiments is provided as a constraint of the neural input and the criterion is defined by a derivative of the isometric force of individual muscles. The optimal trajectories formulated under these conditions are quantitatively compared with the experimentally observed trajectories, and the control strategy of a muscular control system is studied. Finally, a muscular control system in multi-joint arm movements is discussed with regard to the comparative analysis between observed and optimal trajectories.

Spatial resolution of spontaneous accelerations in reaching tasks

“…Myriad neuromuscular effectors exhibit a positional dependence during normal reaching (Lan and Crago, 1994;Gottlieb et al, 2004;Pigeon et al, 1996;Kashima et al, 2000;Suzuki et al, 2001), as well as reaching by hemiparetic subjects (Levin and Dimov, 1997;Levin et al, 2000;Ju et al, 2002;Hu et al, 2006). Whether, and to what degree this positional variability manifests biomechanically, is not well understood.…”

Optimal trajectory formation of constrained human arm reaching movements

“…An extension of this approach to the metabolic level, reflecting the physiological characteristics of the human arm, has been proposed by Kashima and Isurugi (1998) and Kashima et al (2000). However, these studies incorporating the muscle properties did not compare the measured muscular activities [electromyogram (EMG)] with the predicted muscle forces.…”

Modelo para estimativa de força e torque dos músculos rotadores externos do ombro no plano transverso

“…Entretanto, analisando os resultados gerados pelo modelo de otimização, acredita-se que a variação na produção de torque ao longo da ADM (Figura 1) ocorra principalmente por influência da capacidade de produção de força (Figura 2), visto que, existem alterações discretas nas magnitudes de d destes músculos durante o gesto estudado. Para que ocorra contracção muscular, é necessária a excitação da unidade motora (29) . Desta forma, o número de unidades motoras activas e a frequência com que elas são estimuladas, são factores que influenciam a capacidade de produção de força mus-cular (14,19) .…”