ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2016
Muscle-spring dynamics in time-limited, elastic movements.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Elastic pinch biomechanisms can yield consistent launch speeds regardless of projectile mass.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2023Article
- Muscle-tendon unit design and tuning for power enhancement, power attenuation, and reduction of metabolic cost.Journal of biomechanics · 2023Review
- Modelling biological puncture: a mathematical framework for determining the energetics and scaling.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- A Tunable, Simplified Model for Biological Latch Mediated Spring Actuated Systems.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Power Amplification for Jumping Soft Robots Actuated by Artificial Muscles.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2022Article
- Tuned muscle and spring properties increase elastic energy storage.The Journal of experimental biology · 2021Article
- Plasticity of the gastrocnemius elastic system in response to decreased work and power demand during growth.The Journal of experimental biology · 2021Article
- A physical model of mantis shrimp for exploring the dynamics of ultrafast systems.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Some Challenges of Playing with Power: Does Complex Energy Flow Constrain Neuromuscular Performance?Integrative and comparative biology · 2019Article
- Why do Large Animals Never Actuate Their Jumps with Latch-Mediated Springs? Because They can Jump Higher Without Them.Integrative and comparative biology · 2019Article
- Yank: the time derivative of force is an important biomechanical variable in sensorimotor systems.The Journal of experimental biology · 2019Article
- Enhancement of muscle and locomotor performance by a series compliance: A mechanistic simulation study.PloS one · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Muscle contractions that load in-series springs with slow speed over a long duration do maximal work and store the most elastic energy. However, time constraints, such as those experienced during escape and predation behaviours, may prevent animals from achieving maximal force capacity from their muscles during spring-loading. Here, we ask whether animals that have limited time for elastic energy storage operate with springs that are tuned to submaximal force production. To answer this question, we used a dynamic model of a muscle-spring system undergoing a fixed-end contraction, with parameters from a time-limited spring-loader (bullfrog: Lithobates catesbeiana) and a non-time-limited spring-loader (grasshopper: Schistocerca gregaria). We found that when muscles have less time to contract, stored elastic energy is maximized with lower spring stiffness (quantified as spring constant). The spring stiffness measured in bullfrog tendons permitted less elastic energy storage than was predicted by a modelled, maximal muscle contraction. However, when muscle contractions were modelled using biologically relevant loading times for bullfrog jumps (50 ms), tendon stiffness actually maximized elastic energy storage. In contrast, grasshoppers, which are not time limited, exhibited spring stiffness that maximized elastic energy storage when modelled with a maximal muscle contraction. These findings demonstrate the significance of evolutionary variation in tendon and apodeme properties to realistic jumping contexts as well as the importance of considering the effect of muscle dynamics and behavioural constraints on energy storage in muscle-spring systems.
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