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Muscle synergy is a term used to describe the relationship between muscles and their functions. The prime mover, or agonist, is the main muscle involved in an action, while synergist muscles assist the agonist by providing support and stability. For example, during a bicep curl, the bicep is the agonist, and the brachialis and brachioradialis are the synergists. Understanding the role of synergist muscles is important for achieving fluid movement, increasing power and strength, and preventing injury. Muscle synergy has been studied in various contexts, such as balance, walking, and other motor behaviors, to gain insights into neural mechanisms and improve motor function.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | A synergist muscle assists an agonist (a prime mover muscle) during an activity. |
| Function | To produce force to support the movement and promote stability. |
| Effect | Help make movement more fluid, increase power and strength output, and reduce instability. |
| Examples | Bench press: triceps, anterior delts, and serratus anterior. Squat: calves, hamstrings, adductors, glutes, and spinal erectors. Pull-up: biceps, brachialis, brachioradialis, infraspinatus, and teres major. |
| Relationship with other muscles | Synergist muscles work with agonist and antagonist muscles. |
| Neural mechanisms | Muscle synergy theory suggests that the central nervous system (CNS) produces signals that pass through a network that distributes combinations of these signals to the muscles. |
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What You'll Learn
Muscle synergy theory and the central nervous system
Muscle synergy theory suggests that the central nervous system (CNS) produces a small set of signals that pass through a network that distributes combinations of these signals to the muscles. The CNS processes a small amount of information and sends signals to the muscles that move the musculoskeletal structure. This theory attempts to explain how the CNS identifies an optimal solution to perform a task effectively.
The CNS may produce coordinated motor outputs via the combination of motor modules, which can be understood as muscle synergies. Muscle synergies are profiles that constrain how groups of muscles are activated together spatiotemporally as discrete units. These muscle synergies can be identified by applying factorization algorithms to multimuscle electromyographic data (EMGs) recorded during motor behaviours.
The identification of muscle synergies has been validated by independently retrieving them through CNS manipulations and analytic techniques such as spike-triggered averaging of EMGs. Experimental data has demonstrated the role of spinal premotor interneurons in the synergies' organisation, and the presence of motor cortical loci whose stimulations offer access to the synergies. However, it is still unclear whether the motor cortex is involved in organising the synergies.
Muscle synergy theory has been applied in the development of assistive technologies, particularly in controlling myoelectrical assistive technology (AT). By implementing the concept of muscle synergies, roboticists and control engineers can develop artificially intelligent controllers for myoelectric devices.
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Synergist muscles and agonists
The terms agonists, antagonists, and synergists describe the relationship between muscles and their functions. The main muscle involved in an action is called the prime mover, or agonist. It produces the most force and is mainly responsible for creating the necessary movement at a joint. For example, the quadricep is the agonist during a squat because it produces most of the force to create movement.
A synergist muscle assists an agonist during an activity. It can produce force to support the movement and promote stability. Synergist muscles help make movement more fluid, increase power and strength output, and reduce instability. For example, the bicep is the agonist during a bicep curl, but the brachialis and brachioradialis assist with the motion and are synergists. To better understand the role of synergist muscles, we must first look at agonists.
A pair of synergists consists of two muscles simultaneously assisting a prime mover. For example, the anterior deltoids and triceps are a pair of synergists that help the chest during a bench press. The chest is the prime mover, and the serratus anterior assists by stabilizing the scapula, allowing for a more powerful press.
The main muscle that resists a movement is called the antagonist. We could also say that the antagonist is the main muscle that does the opposite of the action that it is resisting. For example, the hamstrings are antagonists to the quads (having opposing functions). However, they serve more of a synergistic role during squats, as they promote knee stability and help with hip extension.
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Synergist muscles and antagonists
Synergist muscles are those that assist an agonist or prime mover muscle during an activity. They can produce force to support the movement and promote stability, helping to make movement more fluid, increase power and strength output, and reduce instability. For example, the bicep is the agonist during a bicep curl, but the brachialis and brachioradialis assist with the motion and are synergists.
A pair of synergists consists of two muscles that simultaneously assist a prime mover. For example, the anterior deltoids and triceps are a pair of synergists that help the chest during a bench press. The chest is the prime mover, and the serratus anterior assists by stabilizing the scapula, allowing for a more powerful press.
The term "agonist" refers to the main muscle that performs an action. It is also called the "prime mover" because it produces the most force and is primarily responsible for creating the necessary movement at a joint. For instance, the quadricep is the agonist during a squat because it produces the most force to facilitate movement.
Antagonist muscles, on the other hand, are those that resist a movement or have the opposite action of the prime mover. They play two crucial roles: maintaining body or limb position (such as holding the arm out or standing erect) and controlling rapid movement (such as shadow boxing without making contact). For example, the gluteus maximus is an antagonist of the iliopsoas, a primary hip flexor, because the gluteus maximus is a hip extensor.
In summary, synergist muscles assist the prime mover by increasing power output, promoting stability, and reducing the risk of unwanted movement. Antagonist muscles, in contrast, resist or oppose the movement of the prime mover. Both synergist and antagonist muscles are essential for maintaining balance in the body during movement and preventing pain and injury.
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Muscle synergy and balance
Muscle synergy refers to the relationship between muscles and their functions. The nervous system groups sets of muscles that produce opposing forces on joints, firing them simultaneously to prevent injury from unbalanced forces. This is a new understanding of muscle synergy, which was previously believed to only improve computational efficiency.
In real life, outside of anatomical position, we move our bodies in various ways. While we need the main muscle, or agonist, to perform an action, other muscles assist in the movement. These are known as synergist muscles. For example, the bicep is the agonist during a bicep curl, but the brachialis and brachioradialis are synergists that assist with the motion. Synergist muscles help make movement more fluid, increase power and strength output, and promote stability.
Muscle synergy analysis can be used to identify whether common modular mechanisms are impaired across multiple motor tasks. Humans and animals can move over diverse terrains and withstand disturbances to balance during locomotion due to the precise and dynamic coordination of multiple muscles across the limbs and trunk via hierarchical neural pathways.
Research has shown that muscle synergies used in reactive balance during standing were also used in perturbation responses during walking, suggesting common neural mechanisms for reactive balance across different contexts. These neural circuits mediating locomotion and reactive balance recruit a common set of muscle synergies to achieve task-level goals.
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Muscle synergy and gait
Muscle synergy analysis is a valuable tool for assessing the effectiveness of gait rehabilitation therapies. Gait is a complex task that requires the coordination of multiple muscles, driven by different cortical and spinal structures. Neurological diseases can lead to impaired neuromuscular control of gait, increasing the risk of accidental falls and reducing independence in performing daily activities.
Muscle synergies refer to weighted groups of muscles that are consistently activated together during specific phases of the gait cycle. These synergies allow the nervous system to produce consistent biomechanical functions, such as balance and walking. By recruiting specific muscle groups in a particular order, the body can adapt to changing task demands and maintain dynamic balance and adaptability during locomotion.
During gait rehabilitation, muscle synergy analysis can provide insights into the changes in muscle coordination and kinematics. For example, in a study on a monoplegic patient, muscle synergy analysis was used to assess the improvement in gait function through rehabilitation training. The number of muscle synergies increased on the paretic side, and the weights of the muscles constituting the synergies changed, indicating improved motor control.
Additionally, muscle synergy analysis has been applied to understand the differences in gait between individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) and unimpaired individuals. Individuals with CP have impaired movement due to a brain injury near birth, resulting in reduced complexity of neuromuscular control during gait. Fewer synergies were required to describe muscle activity during gait in individuals with CP compared to unimpaired individuals, reflecting a simplified control strategy.
In conclusion, muscle synergy analysis is a powerful tool for understanding gait and evaluating the effectiveness of rehabilitation therapies. By analyzing the coordination of specific muscle groups during different phases of the gait cycle, clinicians can assess healthy and pathological muscle activity and develop targeted interventions to improve gait function.
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Frequently asked questions
A muscle synergist assists an agonist (prime mover muscle) during an activity. It can produce force to support the movement and promote stability.
The prime mover muscle, or agonist, is the principal muscle involved in an action and produces the most force. The muscle synergist assists the prime mover muscle in some way, such as helping to increase power output or promoting stability.
Sure, here are some examples:
- Bench press: triceps, anterior delts, and serratus anterior
- Squat: calves, hamstrings, adductors, glutes, and spinal erectors
- Pull-up: biceps, brachialis, brachioradialis, infraspinatus, and teres major
- Shoulder press: triceps, upper chest, and serratus anterior
