Retaining the Equilibrium Point Hypothesis as an Abstract Description of the Neuromuscular System

Abstract

The λ version of the equilibrium point (EP) hypothesis for motor control is examined in light of recent criticisms of its various instantiations. Four important assumptions that have formed the basis for recent criticism are analyzed: First, the assumption that intact muscles possessinvariantforce-length characteristics (ICs). Second, that these ICs are of the same form in agonist-antagonist pairs. Third, that muscle control is monoparametric and that the control parameter, λ, can be given a neurophysiological interpretation. Fourth, that reflex loop time delays and the known, asymmetric, nonlinear mechanical properties of muscles can be ignored. Mechanical and neurophysiological investigations of the neuromuscular system suggests that none of these assumptions is likely to be correct. This has been taken to mean that the EP hypothesis is oversimplified and a new approach is needed. It is argued that such an approach can be provided without rejecting the EP hypothesis, rather to regard it as an input-output description of muscle and associated segmental circuits. The operation of the segmental circuitry can be interpreted as having the function, at least in part, of compensating for a variety of nonlinearities and asymmetries such that the overall system implements the λ-EP model equations.