Universität zu Köln

Toth, Tibor Istvan, Schmidt, Joachim, Bueschges, Ansgar and Daun-Gruhn, Silvia (2013). A Neuro-Mechanical Model of a Single Leg Joint Highlighting the Basic Physiological Role of Fast and Slow Muscle Fibres of an Insect Muscle System. PLoS One, 8 (11). SAN FRANCISCO: PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE. ISSN 1932-6203

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

In legged animals, the muscle system has a dual function: to produce forces and torques necessary to move the limbs in a systematic way, and to maintain the body in a static position. These two functions are performed by the contribution of specialized motor units, i.e. motoneurons driving sets of specialized muscle fibres. With reference to their overall contraction and metabolic properties they are called fast and slow muscle fibres and can be found ubiquitously in skeletal muscles. Both fibre types are active during stepping, but only the slow ones maintain the posture of the body. From these findings, the general hypothesis on a functional segregation between both fibre types and their neuronal control has arisen. Earlier muscle models did not fully take this aspect into account. They either focused on certain aspects of muscular function or were developed to describe specific behaviours only. By contrast, our neuro-mechanical model is more general as it allows functionally to differentiate between static and dynamic aspects of movement control. It does so by including both muscle fibre types and separate motoneuron drives. Our model helps to gain a deeper insight into how the nervous system might combine neuronal control of locomotion and posture. It predicts that (1) positioning the leg at a specific retraction angle in steady state is most likely due to the extent of recruitment of slow muscle fibres and not to the force developed in the individual fibres of the antagonistic muscles; (2) the fast muscle fibres of antagonistic muscles contract alternately during stepping, while co-contraction of the slow muscle fibres takes place during steady state; (3) there are several possible ways of transition between movement and steady state of the leg achieved by varying the time course of recruitment of the fibres in the participating muscles.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Toth, Tibor Istvan UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Schmidt, Joachim UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Bueschges, Ansgar UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Daun-Gruhn, Silvia UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-472060
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0078247
Journal or Publication Title:	PLoS One
Volume:	8
Number:	11
Date:	2013
Publisher:	PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
Place of Publication:	SAN FRANCISCO
ISSN:	1932-6203
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language COXAL DEPRESSOR MUSCLES; EXTENSOR TIBIAE MUSCLE; STICK INSECT; FILTER CHARACTERISTICS; NEUROMECHANICAL MODEL; SEARCHING MOVEMENTS; CARAUSIUS-MOROSUS; MOTONEURONS; WALKING; INNERVATION Multiple languages Multidisciplinary Sciences Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/47206