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Neural Regulation of Limb Mechanics: Insights from the Organization of Proprioceptive Circuits

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Neuromechanical Modeling of Posture and Locomotion

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Computational Neuroscience ((NEUROSCI))

Abstract

Sensory feedback arising from muscle spindle receptors and Golgi tendon organs are known to influence limb mechanics during postural and locomotor tasks. The purpose of this chapter is to synthesize data concerning the organization and actions of these proprioceptive pathways, and then to propose how current models can be used to promote understanding of their functional role in regulating whole limb stiffness. Following a historical introduction, the role of length feedback in transforming the mechanical properties of muscles into more spring-like actuators is reviewed. Next, we describe the organization of intermuscular length and force feedback circuits in the context of the mechanical interrelationships of the muscles involved. Finally, we provide a conceptual framework for understanding the role of proprioceptive feedback in the regulation of limb mechanics across a continuum of behaviors, and show how a developing computational model can be used to understand how these pathways are integrated to regulate limb stiffness. We conclude from a qualitative appraisal of the data that intermuscular length feedback reinforces the mechanical relationships between antagonists and between synergistic muscles that cross the same or different joints. Furthermore, inhibitory force feedback is organized to manage the distribution of stiffness across joints as well as intersegmental dynamics due to the inertial properties of the limb segments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The musculoskeletal system can be represented as a mechanical network with signals corresponding to the mechanical variables of length and force and their derivatives. These signals become represented in the associated neural circuits of the central nervous system through sensory transduction.

  2. 2.

    In the analysis of proprioceptive feedback for muscles crossing the hip and the knee (Eccles and Lundberg 1958a), actions out of the sagittal plane were acknowledged, but functions of specific muscles were still expressed in terms of flexion and extension. Later work underscored the necessity of incorporating muscular actions in three dimensions (Macpherson 1988b).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NIH grants NS20855 and HD 32571 to TRN and 1F32NS080393-01A1 to MAL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Physiology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 555 14th St NW, 30332-0356, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Prof. T. Richard Nichols PhD & Mark A. Lyle PhD, PT, OCS

  2. Autonomous Solutions, 990 North 8000 West, 84325, Mendon, UT, USA

    Nathan E. Bunderson PhD

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  1. Prof. T. Richard Nichols PhD
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  2. Nathan E. Bunderson PhD
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  3. Mark A. Lyle PhD, PT, OCS
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Correspondence to T. Richard Nichols PhD .

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  1. Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Boris I. Prilutsky

  2. Georgia State University , Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Donald H. Edwards

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Nichols, T., Bunderson, N., Lyle, M. (2016). Neural Regulation of Limb Mechanics: Insights from the Organization of Proprioceptive Circuits. In: Prilutsky, B., Edwards, D. (eds) Neuromechanical Modeling of Posture and Locomotion. Springer Series in Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3267-2_3

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