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Related Concept Videos

Indirect Motor Pathways01:22

Indirect Motor Pathways

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The indirect motor or extrapyramidal pathways originate in the brainstem, the lower portion of the brain that connects it to the spinal cord. They consist of several distinct tracts, each with specialized functions. The four main tracts of the indirect motor pathways are the vestibulospinal tract, the reticulospinal tract, the tectospinal tract, and the rubrospinal tract.
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The femur is the body's longest and strongest bone spanning the thigh region. Its head articulates with the acetabulum of the hip bone to form the hip joint. A minor indentation on the medial side of the femoral head, called the fovea capitis, serves as the site of attachment for the ligament of the head of the femur. This weak ligament spans the femur and acetabulum and supports the hip joint. The narrowed region below the head is the neck of the femur. The inclination angle between the...
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Direct Motor Pathways01:11

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The direct motor pathways, also known as the pyramidal tracts, are a group of neural pathways that originate in the brain and descend through the spinal cord. They control the voluntary movement of the body. There are two major direct motor pathways: the corticospinal and the corticobulbar tracts.
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The thigh's motion is primarily governed by muscles originating in the pelvic girdle and inserted into the femur. One crucial muscle, the iliopsoas, is a combination of the psoas major and the iliacus muscles, sharing a common insertion point on the lesser trochanter of the femur.
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The movement of the legs is facilitated by numerous muscles located within the anterior, medial, and posterior compartments of the thigh.
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Knee Joint01:23

Knee Joint

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The knee joint is the most complicated joint in the body. It consists of three articulations– two tibiofemoral and one patellofemoral. As is characteristic of synovial joints, the knee joint has a thin articular capsule that partially surrounds this joint cavity. Additionally, several ligaments, muscles, and cartilaginous structures support the movement of the knee.
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In Vivo Quantification of Hip Arthrokinematics during Dynamic Weight-bearing Activities using Dual Fluoroscopy
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Pathways to primate hip function.

Lucrecia K Aguilar1,2, Clint E Collins3, Carol V Ward4

  • 1Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

Royal Society Open Science
|July 18, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals how specific femur bone shapes predict hip joint mobility in primates, crucial for understanding primate evolution and locomotion. These findings link skeletal morphology to diverse primate behaviors.

Keywords:
functional morphologylocomotionmorphological systempath analysisprimate evolutionstructural equation modelling

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Primate anatomy
  • Biomechanics

Background:

  • Understanding primate evolution relies on reconstructing diverse locomotor repertoires.
  • Proximal femur morphology is often used to infer primate locomotor behavior, but its relationship to locomotor diversity is unclear.
  • The interaction between femur and pelvis morphology and its effect on locomotor abilities remains unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify which morphological traits of the femur are the strongest predictors of hip abduction in anthropoid primates.
  • To elucidate the relationships between skeletal morphology, hip joint mobility, and locomotor behavior across primate groups.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized hypothesis-driven path analyses via regularized structural equation modeling (SEM).
  • Collected data on seven femoral morphological traits and two hip abduction measures from 25 primate species.
  • Applied variable selection and fit testing to develop parsimonious models.

Main Results:

  • Femur shaft length and neck-shaft angle emerged as significant predictors of hip abduction across models.
  • Specific combinations of morphological traits best predicted hip abduction depending on the locomotor or taxonomic group.
  • Demonstrated group-specific linkages between morphology, mobility, and behavior in primates.

Conclusions:

  • Structural equation modeling (SEM) is effective for identifying key relationships between morphology and performance in biological studies.
  • Findings provide insights into the evolution of primate locomotion and morphology.
  • This research has implications for future palaeobiological and biomechanical studies of primates.