Activation of plantar flexor muscles is constrained by multiple muscle synergies rather than joint torques.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral evidence has suggested that a small number of muscle synergies may be responsible for activating a variety of muscles. Nevertheless, such dimensionality reduction may also be explained using the perspective of alternative hypotheses, such as predictions based on linear combinations of joint torques multiplied by corresponding coefficients. To compare the explanatory capacity of these hypotheses for describing muscle activation, we enrolled 12 male volunteers who performed isometric plantar flexor contractions at 10-100% of maximum effort. During each plantar flexor contraction, the knee extensor muscles were isometrically contracted at 0%, 50%, or 100% of maximum effort. Electromyographic activity was recorded from the vastus lateralis, medial gastrocnemius (MG), lateral gastroc

SUBMITTER: Suzuki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5673179 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature