Reconstructing individual posture and movement patterns from subchondral and trabecular bone structure

基于化石骨骼证据重建活动模式和运动是理解古人类进化的重要目标。然而，体力活动和骨骼结构之间的关系尚未完全了解，这种重建需要来自现代物种的参考数据。该项目将研究体力活动和骨骼结构之间的关系，同时考虑到年龄、性别、饮食和个体差异等复杂因素。该项目将产生一个哺乳动物参考数据集，不仅与生物人类学有关，而且与骨生物学和运动医学等其他研究领域有关。该项目还将为本科生、研究生和博士后学生提供宝贵的动手干研究和培训机会，以及涉及当地学校的公共宣传活动。本项目将使用微型CT数据和软骨下、小梁结构和整个骨骺的有限元模型，研究主要肢体关节习惯姿势和活动范围的差异。研究人员将定义髋关节、膝关节和踝关节的参数，这些参数最能指示运动引起的关节负荷模式的变化，并评估骨反应如何随着距离关节表面的距离而变化。他们将评估与年龄相关的差异，并测试短期运动是否会导致软骨下和小梁刚度和力传递的显著变化。目标是能够重建个体和群体在关节和整个肢体姿势和运动范围方面的差异，这将为对已灭绝的人类和其他灵长类动物使用的关节负荷条件和运动模式进行功能推断提供实验基础。

Reconstructing activity patterns and locomotion based on fossil skeletal evidence is an important goal for understanding hominin evolution. However, the relationship between physical activity and bone structure is not fully understood, and such reconstructions require reference data from modern species. This project will investigate relationships between physical activity and bone structure, taking into consideration complicating factors such as age, sex, diet, and individual differences. The project will result in a mammalian reference dataset that will be relevant not only in biological anthropology but also in other research areas such as bone biology and sports medicine. The project will also provide valuable hands-on STEM research and training opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students, as well as public outreach activities involving local schools. This project will investigate differences in habitual posture and range of motion in major limb joints, using micro CT data and finite-element models of subchondral and trabecular structures and whole epiphyses in an ovid model. The investigators will define parameters of the hip, knee and ankle joints that are most indicative of exercise-induced changes in joint loading patterns, and evaluate how bony response changes with distance from the joint surface. They will assess age-related differences and also test whether short-term exercise leads to significant changes in subchondral and trabecular stiffness and force transmission. The goal is to be able to reconstruct individual and group differences in joint and whole-limb posture and range of motion, which will provide the experimental basis for making functional inferences about joint loading conditions and movement patterns used by extinct hominins and other primates.