Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32868777›Full record

ArticleNature communications2020

Plasticity of muscle synergies through fractionation and merging during development and training of human runners.

Vincent C K Cheung, Ben M F Cheung, Janet H Zhang, Zoe Y S Chan, Sophia C W Ha, Chao-Ying Chen, Roy T H Cheung

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
79citing papers in PubMed
8.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

79 citing papers in PubMed, 158 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Neuromotor modules revealed by direct electrical stimulation of the human primary motor cortex.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. User preference in the personalized control of an ankle prosthesis: a case study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 5 countries.

Vincent C K Cheung *School of Biomedical Sciences, and The Gerald Choa Neuroscience Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. vckc@cuhk.edu.hk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6031-7320
Ben M F Cheung *School of Biomedical Sciences, and The Gerald Choa Neuroscience Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0419-6082
Janet H ZhangGait & Motion Analysis Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8180-7356
Zoe Y S ChanGait & Motion Analysis Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Sophia C W HaSchool of Biomedical Sciences, and The Gerald Choa Neuroscience Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Chao-Ying ChenGait & Motion Analysis Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9632-6659
Roy T H CheungGait & Motion Analysis Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. Roy.Cheung@westernsydney.edu.au.
Hong Kong Polytechnic University · HKChinese University of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Complex motor commands for human locomotion are generated through the combination of motor modules representable as muscle synergies. Recent data have argued that muscle synergies are inborn or determined early in life, but development of the neuro-musculoskeletal system and acquisition of new skills may demand fine-tuning or reshaping of the early synergies. We seek to understand how locomotor synergies change during development and training by studying the synergies for running in preschoolers and diverse adults from sedentary subjects to elite marathoners, totaling 63 subjects assessed over 100 sessions. During development, synergies are fractionated into units with fewer muscles. As adults train to run, specific synergies coalesce to become merged synergies. Presences of specific synergy-merging patterns correlate with enhanced or reduced running efficiency. Fractionation and merging of muscle synergies may be a mechanism for modifying early motor modules (Nature) to accommodate the changing limb biomechanics and influences from sensorimotor training (Nurture).

Indexed as

AdultBiomechanical PhenomenaChildChild, PreschoolElectromyographyFemaleHumansLocomotionMaleMiddle AgedMuscle, SkeletalRunning

Identifiers

PMID32868777
PMCPMC7459346
OpenAlexW3082898328

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.