Signalling Of Muscle Force By Golgi Tendon Organs During Exercise And Fatigue
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$181,320.00
Summary
It is a common experience for objects being carried to feel heavier and tasks needing muscular effort to become more difficult as one becomes tired and the muscles fatigue during exertion. The sensation of muscle force depends on two factors. One, a sense of the effort required to perform a task, is generated in the central nervous system and. The other, a sense of the force actually developed by the muscles, is generated in the muscles themselves by signals from sensory receptors called Golgi t ....It is a common experience for objects being carried to feel heavier and tasks needing muscular effort to become more difficult as one becomes tired and the muscles fatigue during exertion. The sensation of muscle force depends on two factors. One, a sense of the effort required to perform a task, is generated in the central nervous system and. The other, a sense of the force actually developed by the muscles, is generated in the muscles themselves by signals from sensory receptors called Golgi tendon organs. The sensation of muscle force and the heaviness of objects results from a combination of both senses, but the contribution of each is unknown. The aim of the project is to determine whether the disturbance of force sense in fatigued muscles results from changes in the way tendon organs signal the actual force developed by the muscles. This will be important for understanding how force sense is disturbed following exercise and in disease states, and for understanding the normal way muscle force is sensed in everyday situations. Disturbances of force sense after exercise will be documented in human subjects by asking them to generate what they perceive to be equal forces in both arms or legs, before and after one limb only is exercised. Errors in force estimation will show up as mismatches between the two limbs. The difficulty with human experiments is that the signals generated by tendon organs cannot be measured directly, but only inferred, perhaps wrongly. This difficulty will be overcome by measuring tendon organ activity directly in anaesthetised animals, where the muscles will be electrically stimulated to perform exercise similar to that in the human experiments. A change in tendon organ signalling will be taken to mean that similar changes in humans could be responsible for disturbances of force sense. In further experiments, the mechanism of the changes will be explored.Read moreRead less
I am a neurophysiologist who examines the neural control of movement and the interaction of sensation and movement in human subjects. I study cortical and motoneuronal events during exercise and muscle fatigue. I also study proprioception i.e. the sensati
Human Movement Control: Basic And Applied Neurophysiology
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$948,684.00
Summary
My research targets mechanisms underlying human movement, ways in which they can be deranged, and ways in which interventions can diminish impairments. It focuses on gaps in understanding and in clinical practice. Work in our broad ‘Motor Impairment’ NHMRC Program underpin my research. It is supplemented by new work on respiratory neurophysiology which has already delivered basic and clinical insight into neural control of the main breathing muscles and more recently upper airway muscles.
INVESTIGATING PROPRIOCEPTION AND SENSORIMOTOR CONTROL IN HUMANS DEVOID OF FUNCTIONAL MUSCLE SPINDLES
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$335,983.00
Summary
Specific genetic mutations can lead to widespread changes in the body. Here we are looking at congenital Hereditary and Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy type III (HSAN III). Affected individuals have difficulty walking, which progressively worsens over time. This series of experiments aims to increase our understanding of the underlying neurophysiological disturbances in HSAN III.
Mechanisms Of Body Representation And The Sensory Consequences Of Stroke
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,842.00
Summary
How does the brain control movement without vision? We cannot see our mouth but can easily put food in it. The brain uses a combination of sensory signals and stored models of the body, to control movement. The body models, and their interaction with sensory information, is not well understood. but they are disrupted by common clinical disorders. This research project investigates unsolved questions about the body model including how it is affected by stroke.