Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26046962›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of physiology2015

The neuromechanical adaptations to Achilles tendinosis.

Yu-Jen Chang, Kornelia Kulig

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of physiology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

37 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Article
  7. Relationship Between Structure and Age in Healthy Achilles Tendons.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society · 2025
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  17. Relationships between tendon structure and clinical impairments in patients with patellar tendinopathy.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Yu-Jen ChangDivision of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Kornelia KuligDivision of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
University of Southern California · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

key pointsAchilles tendinosis is a localized degenerative musculoskeletal disorder that develops over a long period of time and leads to a compliant human Achilles tendon. We demonstrate that the compliant Achilles tendon elicited a series of adaptations from different levels of the human movement control system, such as the muscle-tendon interaction, CNS control and other muscles in the lower leg. These results illustrate the human body's capacity to adapt to tendon pathology and provide the physiological basis for intervention or prevention strategies. Human movement is initiated, controlled and executed in a hierarchical system including the nervous system, muscle and tendon. If a component in the loop loses its integrity, the entire system has to adapt to that deficiency. Achilles tendon, when degenerated, exhibits lower stiffness. This local mechanical deficit may be compensated for by an alteration of motor commands from the CNS. These modulations in motor commands from the CNS may lead to altered activation of the agonist, synergist and antagonist muscles. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of tendon degeneration on its mechanical properties, the neuromechanical behaviour of the surrounding musculature and the existence of the CNS modulation accompanying tendinosis. We hypothesize that the degenerated tendon will lead to diminished tissue mechanical properties and protective muscle activation patterns, as well as an up-regulated descending drive from the CNS. Strong evidence, as reported in the present study, indicates that tendinotic tendons are more compliant compared to healthy tendons. This unilateral involvement affected the neuromuscular control on the involved side but not the non-involved side. The muscle-tendon unit on the tendinotic side exhibits a lowered temporal efficiency, which leads to altered CNS control. The altered CNS control is then expressed as an adapted muscle activation pattern in the lower leg. Taken together, the findings of the present study illustrate the co-ordinated multi-level adaptations to a mechanical lesion in a tendon caused by pathology.

Indexed as

Adaptation, PhysiologicalAchilles TendonAdultBiomechanical PhenomenaCase-Control StudiesCentral Nervous SystemHumansMiddle AgedMuscle, SkeletalTendinopathy

Identifiers

PMID26046962
PMCPMC4553058
OpenAlexW2168516936

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.