Muscle dynamics: Dependence of muscle length on changes in external load

A phenomenological theory of muscle dynamics has been elaborated on the basis of data obtained in experiments on hind limb extensor muscles of narcotized cat. Functional dependence of muscle length on external load was explored in conditions of a constant frequency of the efferent stimulation. It was shown that the system under study could be presented for a rather wide class of input signals as a system with nonlinear statics and linear dynamics. The nonlinear statics was shown to be determined mainly by the hysteretical effects of muscle contraction, whereas dynamic element was described by the first order linear differential equation corresponding to the traditional three-component mechanical model of the muscle. A hypothesis was proposed to explain the hysteresis in active muscle on the basis of functioning of the troponin-tropomyosin regulatory complex. Elaborated mathematical model of muscle dynamics can be used to predict and evaluate changes in the muscle length evoked by arbitrary changes in the external load.