Effect of series elasticity on delay in development of tension relative to stiffness during muscle activation

Experimental data have indicated that during activation, the attachment of myosin to actin, measured by mechanical stiffness, precedes tension generation by 10-30 ms. Using computer simulation, we have investigated the effect of a series elastic element on the lag between stiffness and tension development during muscle activation. Two versions of the two-state cross-bridge model originally proposed by Huxley and a three-state model were considered. After simulated activation, stiffness and tension increased with rates that were strongly dependent on the series elastic strain. In the absence of a series elastic element, the rise in stiffness preceded, lagged, or was coincident with the increase in tension, depending on the model. For large elastic strains, tension lagged stiffness for all models. Lags of 10-30 ms could be obtained with elastic strains of 0.3-1% of the muscle length. This is a realistic value in experiments without sarcomere length servocontrol, suggesting that series elasticity may be an important contributor to the experimentally observed lag between tension and stiffness.