Longitudinal sequencing in intramuscular coordination: A new hypothesis of dynamic functions in the human rectus femoris muscle

The punctum fixum-punctum mobile model has been introduced in previous publications. It describes general principles of intersegmental neuromuscular succession patterns to most efficiently generate specific movement intentions. The general hypothesis of this study is that these principles—if they really do indicate a fundamental basis for efficient movement generation—should also be found in intramuscular coordination and should be indicated by “longitudinal sequencing” between fibers according to the principles of the punctum fixum-punctum mobile model. Based on this general hypothesis an operationalized model was developed for the rectus femoris muscle (RF), to exemplarily scrutinize this hypothesis for the RF. Electromyography was performed for 14 healthy male participants by using two intramuscular fine wire electrodes in the RF (placed proximal and distal), three surface electrodes over the RF (placed proximal, middle, and distal), and two surface electrodes over the antagonists (m. biceps femoris and m. semitendinosus). Three movement tasks were measured: kicking movements; deceleration after sprints; and passively induced backward accelerations of the leg. The results suggest that proximal fibers can be activated independently from distal fibers within the RF. Further, it was shown that the hypothesized function of “intramuscular longitudinal sequencing” does exist during dynamic movements. According to the punctum fixum-punctum mobile model, the activation succession between fibers changes direction (from proximal to distal or inversely) depending on the intentional context. Thus, the results seem to support the general hypothesis for the RF and could be principally in line with the operationalized “inter-fiber to tendon interaction model”.