Plasticity of the gastrocnemius elastic system in response to decreased work and power demand during growth.

ABSTRACT: Elastic energy storage and release can enhance performance that would otherwise be limited by the force-velocity constraints of muscle. Although functional influence of a biological spring depends on tuning between components of an elastic system (the muscle, spring-driven mass and lever system), we do not know whether elastic systems systematically adapt to functional demand. To test whether altering work and power generation during maturation alters the morphology of an elastic system, we prevented growing guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) from jumping. We compared the jump performance of our treatment group at maturity with that of controls and measured the morphology of the gastrocnemius elastic system. We found that restricted birds jumped with lower jump power and work, yet there were n

SUBMITTER: Cox SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10659036 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature