Second International Fascia Research Congress

Findings from papers published by key speakers at the 2007 Fascia Research Congress are presented in preparation for the second congress, October 2009, in Amsterdam. : mechanotransduction between the cytoskeletal structure and the extracellular matrix, and its implications for health and disease. the presence of contractile cells (myofibroblasts) within the fascial fabric. Clinicians are interested in their role in creating contractile tonus in the fascial fabric—how myofibroblasts form, how they are activated, and their influence on passive muscle tonus. the biomechanical properties of fascial tissues: creep, relaxation, hysteresis, effect of sustained spinal flexion on lumbar tissues, strain-induced hydration changes, myofascial manipulation, and fascial viscoelastic deformation. These properties underlie the response of these tissues to therapy. how fascia is innervated, and how proprioception and pain are created, detected, and modulated by the spinal cord and the rest of the nervous system. forms of mechanical signaling within the fascial matrix, such as the tugging in the collagen matrix created by twisting acupuncture needles. new techniques for measurement of fascial motion in living tissue.