The role of muscle spindles in constraining motor control

摘要

The functional importance of γ-motoneuronal activation during a simple movement task was explored using a computational model of a simplified neuromuscular system. Various schemes of γ-motoneuronal activation were tested under different task conditions. Analysis of the simulation data lend support to the idea that γ-motoneuron activity might be essential for cancelling expected stimuli rather than only for programming servo-controlled equilibrium positions of the limbs. It is concluded that the best performance of a movement is obtained when expected afference is cancelled by γ-activity, thereby allowing for a relatively pure and "noise-free" detection of unexpected loads.