NEURO MUSCULAR CONTROL: POSSIBLE SUBJECT FOR BIONIC STUDY
Abstract
Although the neuromuscular systems responsible for the activation of skeletal muscles in mammals are known to contain feedback, only an incomplete picture of their function can be pieced together from present information. The dynamic role of the minute muscle-length transducers (muscle spindles) that are scattered among the main motor fibers is discussed in some detail and the important papers are summarized. Some physiologists have exhibited great ingenuity in their investigations of neuromuscular control, but these workers have often been reluctant to apply the powerful and highly germane analytical techniques of control system theory and the statistical theory of communication. As a result it appears that they have approached the limits of their methods. The present report proposes that the extensive preparatory surgery frequently performed on laboratory animals to minimize random activity often produces unphysiological preparations. Ordinary statistical methods should make it possible to deal with the noise introduced by working with intact, chronic animals. The important benefits to both physiology and engineering that a control engineer's approach to neuromuscular systems can be expected to produce are discussed and various experiments are suggested. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 11, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0270452
Entities
People
- G.g. Furman
Organizations
- University of California, Berkeley