ArticleJournal of biomechanics2013
Defining feasible bounds on muscle activation in a redundant biomechanical task: practical implications of redundancy.
Article in Journal of biomechanics, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Insights into motor impairment assessment using myographic signals with artificial intelligence: a scoping review.Biomedical engineering letters · 2025Review
- The role of the deep cervical extensor muscles in multi-directional isometric neck strength.Journal of biomechanics · 2024Article
- Voluntary muscle coactivation in quiet standing elicits reciprocal rather than coactive agonist-antagonist control of reactive balance.Journal of neurophysiology · 2023Article
- Muscle redundancy is greatly reduced by the spatiotemporal nature of neuromuscular control.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2023Article
- Neuromuscular control: from a biomechanist's perspective.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Review
- Experimentally quantifying the feasible torque space of the human shoulder.Journal of electromyography and kinesiology : official journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology · 2022Article
- Coupling of shoulder joint torques in individuals with chronic stroke mirrors controls, with additional non-load-dependent negative effects in a combined-torque task.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2021Article
- Abnormal center of mass feedback responses during balance: A potential biomarker of falls in Parkinson's disease.PloS one · 2021Article
- Reorganization of motor modules for standing reactive balance recovery following pyridoxine-induced large-fiber peripheral sensory neuropathy in cats.Journal of neurophysiology · 2020Article
- Effects of kinematic complexity and number of muscles on musculoskeletal model robustness to muscle dysfunction.PloS one · 2019Article
- Effect of Kinetic Degrees of Freedom on Multi-Finger Synergies and Task Performance during Force Production and Release Tasks.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Feasibility Theory Reconciles and Informs Alternative Approaches to Neuromuscular Control.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2018Article
- Muscle Synergies Heavily Influence the Neural Control of Arm Endpoint Stiffness and Energy Consumption.PLoS computational biology · 2016Article
- Instantaneous Metabolic Cost of Walking: Joint-Space Dynamic Model with Subject-Specific Heat Rate.PloS one · 2016Article
- Suboptimal Muscle Synergy Activation Patterns Generalize their Motor Function across Postures.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2016Article
- Feasible muscle activation ranges based on inverse dynamics analyses of human walking.Journal of biomechanics · 2015Article
- Exploring the high-dimensional structure of muscle redundancy via subject-specific and generic musculoskeletal models.Journal of biomechanics · 2015Article
- Structure of the set of feasible neural commands for complex motor tasks.Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Measured muscle activation patterns often vary significantly from musculoskeletal model predictions that use optimization to resolve redundancy. Although experimental muscle activity exhibits both inter- and intra-subject variability we lack adequate tools to quantify the biomechanical latitude that the nervous system has when selecting muscle activation patterns. Here, we identified feasible ranges of individual muscle activity during force production in a musculoskeletal model to quantify the degree to which biomechanical redundancy allows for variability in muscle activation patterns. In a detailed cat hindlimb model matched to the posture of three cats, we identified the lower and upper bounds on muscle activity in each of 31 muscles during static endpoint force production across different force directions and magnitudes. Feasible ranges of muscle activation were relatively unconstrained across force magnitudes such that only a few (0-13%) muscles were found to be truly "necessary" (e.g. exhibited non-zero lower bounds) at physiological force ranges. Most of the muscles were "optional", having zero lower bounds, and frequently had "maximal" upper bounds as well. Moreover, "optional" muscles were never selected by optimization methods that either minimized muscle stress, or that scaled the pattern required for maximum force generation. Therefore, biomechanical constraints were generally insufficient to restrict or specify muscle activation levels for producing a force in a given direction, and many muscle patterns exist that could deviate substantially from one another but still achieve the task. Our approach could be extended to identify the feasible limits of variability in muscle activation patterns in dynamic tasks such as walking.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.