Modularity of the Human Musculoskeletal System: The Correlation between Functional Structures by Computer Tools Analysis.

INTRODUCTION

For many years, anatomical studies have been conducted with a shattered view of the body. Although the study of the different apparatuses provides a systemic view of the human body, the reconstruction of the complex network of anatomical structures is crucial for the understanding of structural and functional integration.

AIM

We used network analysis to investigate the connection between the whole-body osteo-myofascial structures of the human musculoskeletal system.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The musculoskeletal network was performed using the aNETomy anatomical network with the implementation of the open-source software Cytoscape for data entry.

RESULTS

The initial graph was applied with a network consisting of 2298 body parts (nodes) and 7294 links, representing the musculoskeletal system. Considering the same weighted and unweighted osteo-myofascial network, a different distribution was obtained, suggesting both a topological organization and functional behavior of the network structure.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, we provide a deeply detailed anatomical network map of the whole-body musculoskeletal system that can be a useful tool for the comprehensive understanding of every single structure within the complex morphological organization, which could be of particular interest in the study of rehabilitation of movement dysfunctions.