Positive force feedback in bouncing gaits?

During bouncing gaits (running, hopping, trotting), passive compliant structures (e.g. tendons, ligaments) store and release part of the stride energy. Here, active muscles must provide the required force to withstand the developing tendon strain and to compensate for the inevitable energy losses. T...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2003-10, Vol.270 (1529), p.2173-2183
Main Authors: Geyer, Hartmut, Seyfarth, Andre, Blickhan, Reinhard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Babinski reflex
Biomechanical Phenomena
Biomechanics
Forced feeding
Gait
Gait - physiology
Humans
Leg Stiffness
Legs
Locomotion
Models, Biological
Motor Control
Muscle Contraction - physiology
Muscle Reflex
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology
Muscles
Propagation delay
Reflex, Stretch - physiology
Robust Running
Running - physiology
Self-Stability
Stiffness
Tendons
Tendons - physiology
Walking
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:During bouncing gaits (running, hopping, trotting), passive compliant structures (e.g. tendons, ligaments) store and release part of the stride energy. Here, active muscles must provide the required force to withstand the developing tendon strain and to compensate for the inevitable energy losses. This requires an appropriate control of muscle activation. In this study, for hopping, the potential involvement of afferent information from muscle receptors (muscle spindles, Golgi tendon organs) is investigated using a two-segment leg model with one extensor muscle. It is found that: (i) positive feedbacks of muscle-fibre length and muscle force can result in periodic bouncing; (ii) positive force feedback (F+) stabilizes bouncing patterns within a large range of stride energies (maximum hopping height of 16.3 cm, almost twofold higher than the length feedback); and (iii) when employing this reflex scheme, for moderate hopping heights (up to 8.8 cm), an overall elastic leg behaviour is predicted (hopping frequency of 1.4-3 Hz, leg stiffness of 9−27 kN m−1). Furthermore, F+ could stabilize running. It is suggested that, during the stance phase of bouncing tasks, the reflex-generated motor control based on feedbacks might be an efficient and reliable alternative to central motor commands.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2003.2454