Predicting Perturbed Human Arm Movements in a Neuro-Musculoskeletal Model to Investigate the Muscular Force Response

Human movement is generated by a dynamic interplay between the nervous system, the biomechanical structures, and the environment. To investigate this interaction, we propose a neuro-musculoskeletal model of human goal-directed arm movements. Using this model, we simulated static perturbations of the...

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Autores principales: Stollenmaier, Katrin, Ilg, Winfried, Haeufle, Daniel F. B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7186382/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32373601
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.00308
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author Stollenmaier, Katrin
Ilg, Winfried
Haeufle, Daniel F. B.
author_facet Stollenmaier, Katrin
Ilg, Winfried
Haeufle, Daniel F. B.
author_sort Stollenmaier, Katrin
collection PubMed
description Human movement is generated by a dynamic interplay between the nervous system, the biomechanical structures, and the environment. To investigate this interaction, we propose a neuro-musculoskeletal model of human goal-directed arm movements. Using this model, we simulated static perturbations of the inertia and damping properties of the arm, as well as dynamic torque perturbations for one-degree-of freedom movements around the elbow joint. The controller consists of a feed-forward motor command and feedback based on muscle fiber length and contraction velocity representing short-latency (25 ms) or long-latency (50 ms) stretch reflexes as the first neuronal responses elicited by an external perturbation. To determine the open-loop control signal, we parameterized the control signal resulting in a piecewise constant stimulation over time for each muscle. Interestingly, such an intermittent open-loop signal results in a smooth movement that is close to experimental observations. So, our model can generate the unperturbed point-to-point movement solely by the feed-forward command. The feedback only contributed to the stimulation in perturbed movements. We found that the relative contribution of this feedback is small compared to the feed-forward control and that the characteristics of the musculoskeletal system create an immediate and beneficial reaction to the investigated perturbations. The novelty of these findings is (1) the reproduction of static as well as dynamic perturbation experiments in one neuro-musculoskeletal model with only one set of basic parameters. This allows to investigate the model's neuro-muscular response to the perturbations that—at least to some degree—represent stereotypical interactions with the environment; (2) the demonstration that in feed-forward driven movements the muscle characteristics generate a mechanical response with zero-time delay which helps to compensate for the perturbations; (3) that this model provides enough biomechanical detail to allow for the prediction of internal forces, including joint loads and muscle-bone contact forces which are relevant in ergonomics and for the development of assistive devices but cannot be observed in experiments.
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spelling pubmed-71863822020-05-05 Predicting Perturbed Human Arm Movements in a Neuro-Musculoskeletal Model to Investigate the Muscular Force Response Stollenmaier, Katrin Ilg, Winfried Haeufle, Daniel F. B. Front Bioeng Biotechnol Bioengineering and Biotechnology Human movement is generated by a dynamic interplay between the nervous system, the biomechanical structures, and the environment. To investigate this interaction, we propose a neuro-musculoskeletal model of human goal-directed arm movements. Using this model, we simulated static perturbations of the inertia and damping properties of the arm, as well as dynamic torque perturbations for one-degree-of freedom movements around the elbow joint. The controller consists of a feed-forward motor command and feedback based on muscle fiber length and contraction velocity representing short-latency (25 ms) or long-latency (50 ms) stretch reflexes as the first neuronal responses elicited by an external perturbation. To determine the open-loop control signal, we parameterized the control signal resulting in a piecewise constant stimulation over time for each muscle. Interestingly, such an intermittent open-loop signal results in a smooth movement that is close to experimental observations. So, our model can generate the unperturbed point-to-point movement solely by the feed-forward command. The feedback only contributed to the stimulation in perturbed movements. We found that the relative contribution of this feedback is small compared to the feed-forward control and that the characteristics of the musculoskeletal system create an immediate and beneficial reaction to the investigated perturbations. The novelty of these findings is (1) the reproduction of static as well as dynamic perturbation experiments in one neuro-musculoskeletal model with only one set of basic parameters. This allows to investigate the model's neuro-muscular response to the perturbations that—at least to some degree—represent stereotypical interactions with the environment; (2) the demonstration that in feed-forward driven movements the muscle characteristics generate a mechanical response with zero-time delay which helps to compensate for the perturbations; (3) that this model provides enough biomechanical detail to allow for the prediction of internal forces, including joint loads and muscle-bone contact forces which are relevant in ergonomics and for the development of assistive devices but cannot be observed in experiments. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-04-21 /pmc/articles/PMC7186382/ /pubmed/32373601 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.00308 Text en Copyright © 2020 Stollenmaier, Ilg and Haeufle. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Bioengineering and Biotechnology
Stollenmaier, Katrin
Ilg, Winfried
Haeufle, Daniel F. B.
Predicting Perturbed Human Arm Movements in a Neuro-Musculoskeletal Model to Investigate the Muscular Force Response
title Predicting Perturbed Human Arm Movements in a Neuro-Musculoskeletal Model to Investigate the Muscular Force Response
title_full Predicting Perturbed Human Arm Movements in a Neuro-Musculoskeletal Model to Investigate the Muscular Force Response
title_fullStr Predicting Perturbed Human Arm Movements in a Neuro-Musculoskeletal Model to Investigate the Muscular Force Response
title_full_unstemmed Predicting Perturbed Human Arm Movements in a Neuro-Musculoskeletal Model to Investigate the Muscular Force Response
title_short Predicting Perturbed Human Arm Movements in a Neuro-Musculoskeletal Model to Investigate the Muscular Force Response
title_sort predicting perturbed human arm movements in a neuro-musculoskeletal model to investigate the muscular force response
topic Bioengineering and Biotechnology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7186382/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32373601
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.00308
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