The function of neck muscles was quantified by incorporating experimentally measured morphometric parameters into a three-dimensional biomechanical model.
To analyze how muscle morphometry and moment arms influence moment-generating capacity of human neck muscles in physiologic ranges of motion.
Previous biomechanical analyses of the head-neck system have used simplified representations of the musculoskeletal anatomy. The force- and moment-generating properties of individual neck muscles have not been reported.
A computer graphics model was developed that incorporates detailed neck muscle morphometric data into a model of cervical musculoskeletal anatomy and intervertebral kinematics. Moment arms and force-generating capacity of neck muscles were calculated for a range of head positions.
With the head in the upright neutral position, the muscles with the largest moment arms and moment-generating capacities are sternocleidomastoid in flexion and lateral bending, semispinalis capitis and splenius capitis in extension, and trapezius in axial rotation. The moment arms of certain neck muscles (e.g., rectus capitis posterior major in axial rotation) change considerably in the physiologic range of motion. Most neck muscles maintain at least 80% of their peak force-generating capacity throughout the range of motion; however, the force-generating capacities of muscles with large moment arms and/or short fascicles (e.g., splenius capitis) vary substantially with head posture.
These results quantify the contributions of individual neck muscles to moment-generating capacity and demonstrate that variations in force-generating capacity and moment arm throughout the range of motion can alter muscle moment-generating capacities.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 8. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 March 2024.
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#6,505,287
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#15,623
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Outputs of similar age from Spine
#9
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Altmetric has tracked 34,054,827 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 80th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 9,982 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its peers.
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