Ankle motion is associated With soft tissue displacement in the dorsal thigh: an in vivo investigation suggesting myofascial force transmission across the knee joint
- Experiments in cadavers have demonstrated significant mechanical interactions between constituents of myofascial chains. However, evidence for such force transmission effects is scarce under in vivo conditions. The purpose of this trial was to examine the impact of ankle motion on soft tissue displacement of the dorsal thigh. Eleven healthy active individuals (26.8 ± 4.3 years, six males), in prone position and with the knee extended, underwent passive calf stretches (ankle dorsal extension) imposed by an isokinetic dynamometer. High-resolution ultrasound was used to simultaneously capture the displacement of the semimembranosus muscle, which was quantified by means of cross-correlation analysis. Inactivity of the leg muscles was controlled using surface electromyography (EMG). One participant had to be excluded due to major EMG activity during the experiment. According to a one-sample t test testing the difference to the neutral zero position, ankle dorsal extension induced substantial caudal muscle displacements (5.76 ± 2.67 mm, p < 0.0001). Correlation analysis (Spearman), furthermore, revealed a strong association between maximal dorsal extension and semimembranosus motion (rho = 0.76, p = 0.02). In conclusion, the present trial provides initial in vivo evidence for a mechanical force transmission between serially connected skeletal muscles. This means that local alterations of the mechanical tissue properties may modify flexibility in neighboring (superior or inferior) joints.
Author: | Jan WilkeORCiDGND, Heloise Debelle, Sarah Tenberg, Andrew Dilley, Constantinos Maganaris |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-544778 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00180 |
Parent Title (English): | Frontiers in physiology |
Publisher: | Frontiers Research Foundation |
Place of publication: | Lausanne |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2020/03/06 |
Date of first Publication: | 2020/03/06 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2020/04/09 |
Tag: | fascia; myofascial chains; myofascial force transmission; range of motion; ultrasound |
Volume: | 11 |
Issue: | 180 |
Page Number: | 7 |
Note: | © 2020 Wilke, Debelle, Tenberg, Dilley and Maganaris. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
HeBIS-PPN: | 46470331X |
Institutes: | Psychologie und Sportwissenschaften / Sportwissenschaften |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit |
7 Künste und Unterhaltung / 79 Sport, Spiele, Unterhaltung / 790 Freizeitgestaltung, darstellende Künste, Sport | |
Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
Open-Access-Publikationsfonds: | Psychologie und Sportwissenschaften |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0 |