Slow Limb Movements Require Precise Control of Muscle Stiffness

Slow and accurate finger and limb movements are essential to daily activities, but their neural control and governing mechanics are relatively unexplored. We consider neuromechanical systems where slow movements are produced by neural commands that modulate muscle stiffness. This formulation based on strain-energy equilibria is in agreement with prior work on neural control of muscle and limb impedance. Slow limb movements are driftless in the sense that movement stops when neural commands stop. We demonstrate, in the context of two planar tendon-driven systems representing a finger and a leg, that the control of muscle stiffness suffices to produce stable and accurate limb postures and quasi-static (slow) transitions among them. We prove, however, that stable postures are achievable only when muscles are pre-tensioned, as is the case for natural muscle tone. Our results further indicate, in accordance with experimental findings, that slow movements are non-smooth. The non-smoothness arises because the precision with which individual muscle stiffnesses need to be controlled changes substantially throughout the limb's motion. These results underscore the fundamental roles of muscle tone and accurate neural control of muscle stiffness in producing stable limb postures and slow movements.