# LOCOMOTION--IDLING METABOLISM AND GAIT DYNAMICS

> **NIH NIH R01** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · 1988 · $189,935

## Abstract

The first objective of this proposal is to determine the manner in which
muscles and populations of fibers within muscles are recruited and utilized
during locomotion as animals increase speed and change gaits.

We plan to re-design a 'force platform system' which we will use together
with high speed films and anatomical dissections to measure muscle stresses
(force/cross-sectional area) in limb extensor muscle groups during the time
of foot contact.  In the first year we plan a direct comparison of muscle
stresses determined using this force platform system with values obtained
using 'force buckles' on tendons in order to quantitatively evaluate errors
of both techniques.  The measurements of muscle forces and stresses will be
used to pursue our specific goals:

1) To determine how peak forces developed by limb muscles and the time
course of force development within a stride change to enable animals to
sustain different speeds within a gait (walk, trot, gallop);

2) To determine whether peak muscle stresses are reduced when animals
change gaits as they increase speed (walk to trot/run; trot to gallop); and
whether they reach similar values at the highest trotting/running and
highest galloping speeds; and

3) To determine whether peak muscle stresses during locomotion are similar
under equivalent conditions in different mammalian species (e.g. walk-trot
transition, trot-gallop transition, top speed, maximum acceleration and
maximum deceleration).

The second objective of this proposal is to investigate the relationship
between muscular activity and the upper and lower limits of metabolism.  We
have found that there is not a tight link between metabolism averaged over
24-hour intervals and either resting or maximal rates of oxygen
consumption.  However, we have found that the maximum rate of oxygen
consumption observed during spontaneous activity is approximately half of
maximum aerobic capacity in all three species.  We plan to extend these
studies to include additional species where maximum oxygen consumption
during spontaneous activity varies by 2-fold in order to test and extend
the observation that the aerobic capacity of animals appears related to,
and perhaps maintained by, a short period of spontaneous exercise each day
at about 50% of maximum aerobic capacity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3154974
- **Project number:** 2R01AR018140-12
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** LN53LCFJFL45
- **Principal Investigator:** C R TAYLOR
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1988
- **Award amount:** $189,935
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1978-07-01 → 1993-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3154974

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3154974, LOCOMOTION--IDLING METABOLISM AND GAIT DYNAMICS (2R01AR018140-12). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3154974. Licensed CC0.

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