electromyography
- Motor control of an insect leg during level and incline walking
Highlighted Article: In stick insect hindlegs, muscle activity is adjusted to different mechanical demands during walking, primarily early in stance. Adjustments strongly affect forces/torques but not kinematics and suggest step-by-step control.
- Neuromechanical coupling within the human triceps surae and its consequence on individual force-sharing strategies
Summary: The greater the force-generating capacity of the medial compared with the lateral gastrocnemius, the stronger the bias of activation to the medial gastrocnemius. This coupling leads to a force imbalance between synergist muscles, the magnitude of which varies greatly between individuals.
- Neuromuscular control of locomotion is altered by tail autotomy in geckos
Summary: Motor control of locomotor muscles in geckos changes in response to altered demands that occur with tail autotomy, demonstrating the complex relationship between muscle function and locomotion.
- Fin and body neuromuscular coordination changes during walking and swimming in Polypterus senegalus
Summary: Polypterus senegalus use intermittent high-intensity activity of fin and mid-body muscles during walking compared with more constant, moderate-intensity activity of all muscles during swimming.
- Crawling without wiggling: muscular mechanisms and kinematics of rectilinear locomotion in boa constrictors
Summary: Unlike most limbless vertebrates, snakes can propel themselves without bending their long axis because of muscles that both move the skin relative to the underlying skeleton and modulate skin stiffness.
- Neuromuscular mechanisms of an elaborate wing display in the golden-collared manakin (Manacus vitellinus)
Summary: We pinpoint the main skeletal muscles associated with the production of an elaborate gestural courtship display in a tropical bird, the golden-collared manakin.
- Lower limb biomechanical analysis during an unanticipated step on a bump reveals specific adaptations of walking on uneven terrains
Summary: Investigation of an unanticipated step on uneven ground reveals two distinct adaptive strategies: an ankle-based strategy when stepping with the forefoot, and a hip-based strategy when stepping with the rearfoot.
- Function of the hypobranchial muscles and hyoidiomandibular ligament during suction capture and bite processing in white-spotted bamboo sharks, Chiloscyllium plagiosum
Summary: Hypobranchial muscles of bamboo sharks allow for storage and release of elastic strain energy during suction feeding, which is facilitated by a four-bar linkage that links jaw and hyoid depression.
- The nervous system does not compensate for an acute change in the balance of passive force between synergist muscles
Summary: Force sharing between the three heads of the triceps surae during submaximal contractions changes as a function of ankle angle, and the magnitude of this change is individual specific.
- Role of outstretched forelegs of flying beetles revealed and demonstrated by remote leg stimulation in free flight
Summary: The forelegs of beetles were found to voluntarily swing to assist with flight yaw rotation. Remote control of left–right turnings by inducing leg swings was demonstrated via a wireless electrical stimulator.