Musculoskeletal Design, Muscle Activity and Movement

9507479 协调的运动需要一个神经计划 以及肌肉和骨骼的生物力学信息。 该计划的实施是运动神经元和肌肉产生运动的激活模式。 本研究的目的是了解控制复杂运动的实施模式的构建，以及它们工作的生物力学约束。 模型系统为青蛙捕食系统。 猎物捕捉在实验室中很容易刺激，而且是一个复杂的运动，需要几对快速协调 对抗性肌肉该研究采用多学科方法 结合 生物力学和 神经生物 来确定肌肉骨骼系统的设计是如何相互作用的 与 肌肉活动产生 运动 在体型不同的物种内部和之间进行比较，将显示肌肉活动和运动模式如何与形状相似的动物的体型相关。 形态 的 该进料装置， 的 与进食行为相关的运动和肌肉激活模式将同时进行分析。 这些研究将深入了解肌肉激活策略如何随身体大小而变化。 第二种方法将比较不同形状的物种之间的肌肉骨骼设计，肌肉活动，运动模式和摄食性能。 这 将展示肌肉骨骼结构和肌肉活动 模式已经进化到产生 特定的运动模式和性能特征 比如速度准确性和效率 的结果 这项研究将对理解运动的神经控制及其演变产生广泛的影响。

9507479 Coordinated movement requires both a neural plan and information about the biomechanics of muscles and skeleton. The implementation of the plan is a pattern of activation of motor neurons and muscles that produces the movement. The goal of this research is to understand the construction of implementation patterns that control complex movement, and the biomechanical constraints under which they work. The model system is prey capture by frogs. Prey capture is easy to stimulate in the laboratory, and is a complex movement that requires rapid coordination of several pairs of antagonistic muscles. The research uses a multidisciplinary approach combining biomechanics and neurobiology to determine how the design of the musculoskeletal system interacts with muscle activity to produce movement. Comparisons within and between species that differ in size will show how muscle activity and movement patterns are related to body size among animals of similar shape. The morphology of the feeding apparatus, the movements associated with feeding behavior, and the pattern of muscle activation will be analyzed simultaneously. These studies will provide insight into how muscle activation strategies change with body size. A second approach will compare musculoskeletal design, muscle activity, movement patterns and feeding performance among species that differ in shape. This will show how musculoskeletal design and muscle activity patterns have evolved to produce particular movement patterns and performance characteristics like speed, accuracy, and efficiency. The results of this research will have broad implications for understanding the neural control of movement and its evolution.