Copyright
©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Sep 18, 2014; 5(4): 469-485
Published online Sep 18, 2014. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v5.i4.469
Published online Sep 18, 2014. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v5.i4.469
Neuromuscular interactions around the knee in children, adults and elderly
Eleftherios Kellis, Lida Mademli, Dimitrios Patikas, Nikolaos Kofotolis, Laboratory of Neuromechanics, School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Serres 62100, Greece
Author contributions: Kellis E contributed to the conception and design and final editing and approval of the whole article and the literature search, drafting and revision of the Introduction, the Conclusion Sections and the section “common mechanisms” of this article; Mademli L contributed to the design, literature search and writing of the Section “Elderly”, as well as the final approval of the article; Patikas D contributed to the design, literature search and writing of the section “children”, as well as the final approval of the article; Kofotolis N contributed to the literature search, drafting and revision, and final editing of the injury-related sections of the article and the final approval of the article.
Correspondence to: Eleftherios Kellis, PhD, Associate Professor in Sports Kinesiology, Laboratory of Neuromechanics, School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, TEFAA, Serres 62100, Greece. ekellis@phed-sr.auth.gr
Telephone: +30-2310-991053 Fax: +30-23210-64806
Received: December 23, 2013
Revised: March 12, 2014
Accepted: April 17, 2014
Published online: September 18, 2014
Revised: March 12, 2014
Accepted: April 17, 2014
Published online: September 18, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Children and elderly display a lower absolute muscle strength capacity than young adults. This may be due to a higher quadriceps activation failure as well as a more compliant quadriceps muscle-tendon in children (probably due to maturation) and elderly (due to age effects on neuromuscular system) than adults which, in turn, leads to an altered strength capacity. In contrast, age differences in muscle co-activation are not age dependent. Current evidence precludes any conclusions on whether muscle strength balance ratios are age specific.