Movement results from the complex interplay between neural and musculoskeletal systems. Whether investigating motor control in healthy subjects or following injury, both systems must be considered in order to interpret the function, or dysfunction, of movement. Our long term research goal is to investigate this interplay, providing insights into the mechanisms and strategies underlying biological motor control in health and disease. In the research proposed here, we will examine the production of locomotion in the rat, examining both its neural control and its biomechanics. Although the rat is being used increasingly to study motor control and the consequences of injury, many features of its behavior and biomechanics are unknown. We will evaluate a specific hypothesis about biological motor control: that motor systems produce movement through the flexible combination of a small number of muscle groups, or muscle synergies. We propose that the muscles within each such group are not arbitrary but are adapted to the biomechanics of the motor system.
Our specific aims are to 1) Evaluate, using novel computational analyses, whether the patterns of muscle activations recorded during locomotion in freely behaving rats can be well described as the combination of muscle synergies;2) Develop a biomechanical model of the hindlimb musculoskeletal system of the rat to be used in interpreting the identified muscle synergies;3) Use this model to examine the biomechanical actions of identified synergies and to assess whether complex behaviors can be produced by combination of muscle synergies. The research proposed here thus serves two simultaneous purposes, both of potential relevance to public health. First, by testing this specific hypothesis of the production of complex movement by a mammal, this research will provide insights to motor control in other mammals, including humans. Second, by providing basic information and powerful computational tools for the analysis of motor control in the rat, this research will greatly increase our basic understanding of this important model system. Based on this understanding, we can better evaluate the effects of injury in this system and can more readily develop strategies of rehabilitation and regeneration, strategies which might then be translated into clinical settings.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AR053608-04
Application #
7918109
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-MOSS-F (03))
Program Officer
Boyce, Amanda T
Project Start
2007-09-01
Project End
2012-08-31
Budget Start
2010-09-01
Budget End
2011-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$280,229
Indirect Cost
Name
Northwestern University at Chicago
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
005436803
City
Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60611
Wei, Qi; Pai, Dinesh K; Tresch, Matthew C (2018) Uncertainty in Limb Configuration Makes Minimal Contribution to Errors Between Observed and Predicted Forces in a Musculoskeletal Model of the Rat Hindlimb. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 65:469-476
Wei, Qi; Patkar, Saket; Pai, Dinesh K (2014) Fast ray-tracing of human eye optics on Graphics Processing Units. Comput Methods Programs Biomed 114:302-14
Ritter, Laura K; Tresch, Matthew C; Heckman, C J et al. (2014) Characterization of motor units in behaving adult mice shows a wide primary range. J Neurophysiol 112:543-51
Tysseling, Vicki M; Janes, Lindsay; Imhoff, Rebecca et al. (2013) Design and evaluation of a chronic EMG multichannel detection system for long-term recordings of hindlimb muscles in behaving mice. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 23:531-9
Wu, Mengnan Mary; Pai, Dinesh K; Tresch, Matthew C et al. (2012) Passive elastic properties of the rat ankle. J Biomech 45:1728-32
Sandercock, Thomas G; Yeo, Sang Hoon; Pai, Dinesh K et al. (2012) Transducer and base compliance alter the in situ 6 dof force measured from muscle during an isometric contraction in a multi-joint limb. J Biomech 45:1017-22
Yeo, Sang Hoon; Mullens, Christopher H; Sandercock, Thomas G et al. (2011) Estimation of musculoskeletal models from in situ measurements of muscle action in the rat hindlimb. J Exp Biol 214:735-46
Tresch, Matthew C; Klein, David A; Yeo, Sang Hoon et al. (2010) Understanding complex muscles in the rat hindlimb: Activations and actions. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2010:4502-5
Wei, Qi; Sueda, Shinjiro; Pai, Dinesh K (2010) Physically-based modeling and simulation of extraocular muscles. Prog Biophys Mol Biol 103:273-83
Klein, David A; Tresch, Matthew C (2010) Specificity of intramuscular activation during rhythms produced by spinal patterning systems in the in vitro neonatal rat with hindlimb attached preparation. J Neurophysiol 104:2158-68

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