{"title":"Skeletal muscle models composed of motor units: A review","authors":"Rositsa Raikova , Piotr Krutki , Jan Celichowski","doi":"10.1016/j.jelekin.2023.102774","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The mathematical muscle models should include several aspects of muscle structure and physiology. First, muscle force is the sum of forces of multiple motor units (MUs), which have different contractile properties and play different roles in generating muscle force. Second, whole muscle activity is an effect of net excitatory inputs to a pool of motoneurons innervating the muscle, which have different excitability, influencing MU recruitment. In this review, we compare various methods for modeling MU twitch and tetanic forces and then discuss muscle models composed of different MU types and number. We first present four different analytical functions used for twitch modeling and show limitations related to the number of twitch describing parameters. We also show that a nonlinear summation of twitches should be considered in modeling tetanic contractions. We then compare different muscle models, most of which are variations of Fuglevand’s model, adopting a common drive hypothesis and the size principle. We pay attention to integrating previously developed models into a consensus model based on physiological data from <em>in vivo</em> experiments on the rat medial gastrocnemius muscle and its respective motoneurons. Finally, we discuss the shortcomings of existing models and potential applications for studying MU synchronization, potentiation, and fatigue.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":56123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1050641123000330","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
The mathematical muscle models should include several aspects of muscle structure and physiology. First, muscle force is the sum of forces of multiple motor units (MUs), which have different contractile properties and play different roles in generating muscle force. Second, whole muscle activity is an effect of net excitatory inputs to a pool of motoneurons innervating the muscle, which have different excitability, influencing MU recruitment. In this review, we compare various methods for modeling MU twitch and tetanic forces and then discuss muscle models composed of different MU types and number. We first present four different analytical functions used for twitch modeling and show limitations related to the number of twitch describing parameters. We also show that a nonlinear summation of twitches should be considered in modeling tetanic contractions. We then compare different muscle models, most of which are variations of Fuglevand’s model, adopting a common drive hypothesis and the size principle. We pay attention to integrating previously developed models into a consensus model based on physiological data from in vivo experiments on the rat medial gastrocnemius muscle and its respective motoneurons. Finally, we discuss the shortcomings of existing models and potential applications for studying MU synchronization, potentiation, and fatigue.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Electromyography & Kinesiology is the primary source for outstanding original articles on the study of human movement from muscle contraction via its motor units and sensory system to integrated motion through mechanical and electrical detection techniques.
As the official publication of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology, the journal is dedicated to publishing the best work in all areas of electromyography and kinesiology, including: control of movement, muscle fatigue, muscle and nerve properties, joint biomechanics and electrical stimulation. Applications in rehabilitation, sports & exercise, motion analysis, ergonomics, alternative & complimentary medicine, measures of human performance and technical articles on electromyographic signal processing are welcome.