Paul Chandana, Bellotti Mario, Jezernik Saso, Curt Armin
Artificial Intelligence Lab, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Biol Cybern. 2005 Sep;93(3):153-70. doi: 10.1007/s00422-005-0559-x. Epub 2005 Aug 26.
This paper describes a neuro-musculo-skeletal model of the human lower body which has been developed with the aim of studying the effects of spinal cord injury on locomotor abilities. The model represents spinal neural control modules corresponding to central pattern generators, muscle spindle based reflex pathways, golgi tendon organ based pathways and cutaneous reflex pathways, which are coupled to the lower body musculo-skeletal dynamics. As compared to other neuro-musculo-skeletal models which aim to provide a description of the possible mechanisms involved in the production of locomotion, the goal of the model here is to understand the role of the known spinal pathways in locomotion. Thus, while other models focus primarily on functionality at the overall system level, the model here emphasizes functional and topological correspondance with the biological system at the level of the subcomponents representing spinal pathways. Such a model is more suitable for the detailed investigation of clinical questions related to spinal control of locomotion. The model is used here to perform preliminary experiments addressing the following issues: (1) the significance of spinal reflex modalities for walking and (2) the relative criticality of the various reflex modalities. The results of these experiments shed new light on the possible role of the reflex modalities in the regulation of stance and walking speed. The results also demonstrate the use of the model for the generation of hypothesis which could guide clinical experimentation. In the future, such a model may have applications in clinical diagnosis, as it can be used to identify the internal state of the system which provides the closest behavioral fit to a patient's pathological condition.
本文描述了一种人类下半身的神经肌肉骨骼模型，其开发目的是研究脊髓损伤对运动能力的影响。该模型代表了与中枢模式发生器相对应的脊髓神经控制模块、基于肌梭的反射通路、基于高尔基腱器官的通路以及皮肤反射通路，这些通路与下半身的肌肉骨骼动力学相耦合。与其他旨在描述运动产生中可能涉及的机制的神经肌肉骨骼模型相比，此处模型的目标是了解已知脊髓通路在运动中的作用。因此，虽然其他模型主要关注整体系统层面的功能，但此处模型强调在代表脊髓通路的子组件层面与生物系统的功能和拓扑对应关系。这样的模型更适合对与脊髓运动控制相关的临床问题进行详细研究。此处使用该模型进行初步实验，以解决以下问题：（1）脊髓反射模式对行走的重要性；（2）各种反射模式的相对关键性。这些实验结果为反射模式在姿势调节和行走速度方面的可能作用提供了新的见解。结果还证明了该模型可用于生成假设，从而指导临床实验。未来，这样的模型可能在临床诊断中有应用，因为它可用于识别与患者病理状况行为匹配度最高的系统内部状态。
