History-dependent perturbation response in limb muscle

Abstract

Muscle mediates movement but movement is typically unsteady and perturbed. Muscle is known to behave non-linearly and with history dependent properties during steady locomotion, but the importance of history dependence in mediating muscles function during perturbations remains less clear. To explore muscle's capacity to mitigate perturbations during locomotion, we constructed a series of perturbations that varied only in kinematic history, keeping instantaneous position, velocity and time from stimulation constant. We find that muscle's perturbation response is profoundly history dependent, varying by four fold as baseline frequency changes, and dissipating energy equivalent to ∼6 times the kinetic energy of all the limbs in 5 ms (nearly 2400 W Kg−1). Muscle's energy dissipation during a perturbation is predicted primarily by the force at the onset of the perturbation. This relationship holds across different frequencies and timings of stimulation. This history dependence behaves like a viscoelastic memory producing perturbation responses that vary with the frequency of the underlying movement.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2019
Source ID
10.1242/jeb.199018

Entities

People

  • Chidinma Chukwueke
  • Simon Sponberg
  • Thomas Libby

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Army Research Office
  • Georgia Tech
  • National Science Foundation
  • SRI International

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Trauma Surgery or Emergency Medicine.