Conveners
Modelling the neuromechanics of swimming, flying and pumping systems
- Alexander Hoover (Tulane University)
Description
In many biomechanical systems, motion emerges from the complex interaction of muscles, body elasticity, and local environmental forces. An organism's nervous system also plays a significant role in guiding the emergent kinematics and is in turn shaped by the environment in which this system inhabits. For swimming and flying animals, the role of the nervous system can manifest itself in a number of ways, from providing feedback during active swimming, to the timing of muscular activation when manoeuvring in a fluid environment. Other times, the local fluid environmental forces can determine the effective motion of these systems and shape how they are regulated. Recently, a variety of modelling approaches have been used in an effort to understand the interplay between the fluid environment and the neuromechanical organization of the organism. In this minisymposium, the speakers will discuss recent research from across a broad range of biological fluid-structure interaction systems that are influenced by the underlying neuromechanical organization. Topics range from the role of feedback and timing in locomotion, control mechanisms in biomechanical pumps, and examining how environmental effects shape the preferred kinematics.
In order for an organism to have an robust mode of locomotion, the underlying neuromuscular organization must be maneuverable in a changing environment. In jellyfish, the activation and release of muscular tension is governed by the interaction of pacemakers with the underlying motor nerve net that communicates with the musculature. This set of equally-spaced pacemakers located at bell rim...
The lamprey is an eel-like organism used as a model for both neurophysiology and locomotion studies. Like other animals, the lamprey moves through the use of a neural network called a central pattern generator to generate a rhythmic signals down the body, inducing muscle contractions. This signal is adjusted through information using mechanosensors (edge cells) which detect changes to the body...
From heart tubes to respiratory breathing, many organisms use valveless pumping mechanisms for internal flow transport. These pumping mechanisms were first seen in basal chordates, e.g., tunicates, where the drove through through their open circulatory systems. As evolution took its course these pumping techniques begun to be found in insect hearts and during first stage of vertebrate heart...
Very small insects that are 1 mm in length or less, such as thrips and fairyflies, often clap their wings together at the end of each upstroke and fling them apart at the beginning of each downstroke. This 'clap and fling' motion augments the lift forces generated during flight, but very large forces are required to clap the wings together and to fling the wings apart. As the opposing forces...