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Sex-related differences in neuromuscular control : Implications for injury mechanisms or healthy stabilisation strategies?

Flaxman, Teresa E. ; Smith, Andrew J.J. and Benoit, Daniel L. LU (2014) In Journal of Orthopaedic Research 32(2). p.310-317
Abstract

Sex-related differences in neuromuscular activation have been previously identified and are thought to be an underlying contributor to the ACL injury mechanism. During dynamic tasks evaluating the role of muscle action as it relates to joint stability is difficult since individual muscle contributions to force generation are confounded by biomechanical factors of movement. The purpose of this study was to examine sex-related differences in knee muscle action during a weight-bearing isometric exercise and identify the stabilising role of these muscles. Healthy young adults stood with their dominant leg in a boot fixed to a force platform. A force matching protocol required participants to modulate normalised ground reaction forces in... (More)

Sex-related differences in neuromuscular activation have been previously identified and are thought to be an underlying contributor to the ACL injury mechanism. During dynamic tasks evaluating the role of muscle action as it relates to joint stability is difficult since individual muscle contributions to force generation are confounded by biomechanical factors of movement. The purpose of this study was to examine sex-related differences in knee muscle action during a weight-bearing isometric exercise and identify the stabilising role of these muscles. Healthy young adults stood with their dominant leg in a boot fixed to a force platform. A force matching protocol required participants to modulate normalised ground reaction forces in various combinations of anterior-posterior, medial-lateral loads while maintaining a constant joint position. Normalised electromyographic data of eight muscles crossing the knee joint were displayed in polar plots. Patterns were quantified with an orientation analysis and mean activation magnitudes were computed. Females demonstrated symmetrical activation patterns with significantly greater activation in the rectus femoris (p = 0.037), lateral gastrocnemius (p = 0.012), and tensor fascia lata (p = 0.005) compared to males. High between-subject reliability (ICC = 0.772-0.977) was observed across groups suggesting we have identified fundamental sex-related differences in knee joint stabilisation strategies.

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author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
knee injury, knee stability, neuromuscular control, sex-differences, weight-bearing
in
Journal of Orthopaedic Research
volume
32
issue
2
pages
310 - 317
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:84890548316
  • pmid:24167087
ISSN
0736-0266
DOI
10.1002/jor.22510
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
720c314b-b674-4a21-9c7e-4124b13ec38e
date added to LUP
2023-08-24 16:31:39
date last changed
2024-04-05 21:51:23
@article{720c314b-b674-4a21-9c7e-4124b13ec38e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Sex-related differences in neuromuscular activation have been previously identified and are thought to be an underlying contributor to the ACL injury mechanism. During dynamic tasks evaluating the role of muscle action as it relates to joint stability is difficult since individual muscle contributions to force generation are confounded by biomechanical factors of movement. The purpose of this study was to examine sex-related differences in knee muscle action during a weight-bearing isometric exercise and identify the stabilising role of these muscles. Healthy young adults stood with their dominant leg in a boot fixed to a force platform. A force matching protocol required participants to modulate normalised ground reaction forces in various combinations of anterior-posterior, medial-lateral loads while maintaining a constant joint position. Normalised electromyographic data of eight muscles crossing the knee joint were displayed in polar plots. Patterns were quantified with an orientation analysis and mean activation magnitudes were computed. Females demonstrated symmetrical activation patterns with significantly greater activation in the rectus femoris (p = 0.037), lateral gastrocnemius (p = 0.012), and tensor fascia lata (p = 0.005) compared to males. High between-subject reliability (ICC = 0.772-0.977) was observed across groups suggesting we have identified fundamental sex-related differences in knee joint stabilisation strategies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Flaxman, Teresa E. and Smith, Andrew J.J. and Benoit, Daniel L.}},
  issn         = {{0736-0266}},
  keywords     = {{knee injury; knee stability; neuromuscular control; sex-differences; weight-bearing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{310--317}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Journal of Orthopaedic Research}},
  title        = {{Sex-related differences in neuromuscular control : Implications for injury mechanisms or healthy stabilisation strategies?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jor.22510}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/jor.22510}},
  volume       = {{32}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}