Time-varying mechanical behavior of multijointed arm in man.

1. The aim of this study was to describe the time-varying changes in the mechanical parameters of a multijointed limb. The parameters we considered are the coefficients of stiffness, viscosity, and inertia. Continuous pseudorandom perturbations were applied at the elbow joint during a catching task. A modified version of an ensemble technique was used for the identification of time-varying parameters. Torques at the elbow and wrist joints were then modeled with a linear combination of the changes in angular position and velocity weighted by the matrix of angular stiffness and the matrix of angular viscosity, respectively. Control experiments were also performed that involved the stationary maintenance of a given limb posture by resisting actively the applied perturbations. Different limb postures were examined in each such experiment to investigate the dependence of the mechanical parameters on limb geometry. 2. The technique for the identification of limb mechanical parameters proved adequate. The input perturbations applied at the elbow joint elicited angular oscillations at the wrist essentially uncorrelated with those produced at the elbow. The frequency of oscillation is much higher at the wrist than at the elbow, mainly because of the smaller inertia. The variance accounted for by the model was approximately 80% under both stationary and time-varying conditions; in the latter case the value did not vary significantly throughout the task. In addition, the model predicted values of the inertial parameters that were close to the anthropometric measures, and it reproduced the stepwise increase in limb inertia that occurs at the time the ball is held in the hand. 3. The values of angular stiffness and viscosity estimated under stationary conditions did not vary significantly with joint angle, in agreement with previous results obtained under quasi-static postural conditions. The matrix of the coefficients of angular stiffness was not symmetrical, indicating a prominent role for nonautogenic reflex feedbacks with unequal gains for elbow and wrist muscles. 4. A complex temporal modulation of angular stiffness and viscosity was observed during the catching task. The changes in the direct coefficients of angular stiffness tended to covary with those in the coupling coefficients from trial start up to approximately 30 ms before impact time. Around impact time, however, there was a complete dissociation: the direct terms peaked, whereas the coupling terms dropped. The direct terms of angular viscosity also increased before impact, whereas the viscosity coupling terms remained close to zero throughout.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)