2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

Modulation of elbow joint stiffness and co-contraction of agonist-antagonist muscles during human rhythmic movement.

Research Project

Project/Area Number	13680010
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	体育学
Research Institution	Hokkaido University
Principal Investigator	YAMADA Norimasa Hokkaido Univ,, Grad. School of Education., Asso. Prof., 大学院・教育学研究科, 助教授 (00210469)
Project Period (FY)	2001 – 2002
Keywords	joint stiffness / electromagnetic torque motor system / co-contraction
Research Abstract	The purpose of this study is to investigate the modulation mechanism of joint stiffness during human rhythmic movement. To estimate the mechanical properties of the elbow joint, external perturbations were applied by an electromagnetic torque motor system to the forearm of each subject during the movement. Joint stiffness showed a significant quadratic trend with a minimum close to the natural frequency of the apparatus-limb system. This results suggested that 1) the mechanism by which joint stiffness is modulated may change according to the relation between natural frequency and movement frequency, and 2) the co-contraction mechanism is less important for maintaining joint stiffness during slow movement than during fast movement.

(4 results)