Neuromechanics and Precision Motor Control for Functional Health

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Physiology and Pathology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2027 | Viewed by 1341

Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human movement and motor control are central to functional health, physical performance, and quality of life across the lifespan. Movement patterns, motor skills, and physical fitness reflect complex interactions among biomechanical structures, neural regulation, and physiological capacity. However, traditional assessments often rely on isolated indicators, limiting our understanding of integrated movement function and overall health status.

Recent advances in biomechanics, neuroscience, and standardized fitness evaluation have enabled more precise assessment of movement performance, neuromuscular coordination, and functional capacity in diverse populations. Integrating these approaches provides new opportunities to characterize individual movement profiles, identify early functional decline, and optimize training and health interventions.

This Special Issue focuses on interdisciplinary research that integrates biomechanical analysis, neuroimaging/neural assessment, and physical fitness evaluation to investigate human movement and motor control in laboratory, clinical, and real-world settings. We encourage studies examining gait and movement biomechanics, neural mechanisms of motor control, and physical fitness assessment in relation to functional health. In addition, this Special Issue seeks to feature large-scale epidemiological research on physical activity and fitness that delineates new strategic directions and emerging trajectories for the field.

By promoting precision-oriented and cross-disciplinary perspectives, this Special Issue aims to advance evidence-based frameworks for the integrated assessment of movement biomechanics, neural regulation, and physical fitness. Our ultimate goal is to foster performance optimization and personalized exercise and rehabilitation strategies across diverse populations.

We welcome original research articles and reviews that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Gait and movement biomechanics: kinematic and kinetic analysis of walking, running, and functional tasks.
  • Neural and brain mechanisms of motor control: central and peripheral regulation of movement, coordination, and adaptation.
  • Motor learning and skill acquisition: neural and biomechanical processes underlying movement proficiency.
  • Neuromechanical coupling: interactions between neural control and musculoskeletal mechanics.
  • Precision exercise and rehabilitation: Individualized interventions based on biomechanical, neural, and fitness profiles.
  • Epidemiology of movement health: large-scale population studies identifying trends in activity, fitness, and health outcomes.

Dr. Wenfei Zhu
Dr. Yuliang Sun
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • human movement
  • motor control
  • biomechanics
  • neuroscience
  • physical fitness
  • functional health
  • gait analysis
  • precision health
  • physical activity
  • epidemiological study

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3942 KB  
Article
Task-Specific Rescue Loading Redistributes Lower Limb Joint Work During Simulated Sprinting Across Fatigue States in Firefighters
by Junqiang Zhang, Xueyi Chen, Min Chen and Xinxin Zhang
Life 2026, 16(7), 1123; https://doi.org/10.3390/life16071123 - 6 Jul 2026
Viewed by 324
Abstract
Firefighters routinely perform short-distance sprints while wearing or carrying occupational gear. Nevertheless, how fatigue interacts with task-specific loading to shape the distribution of mechanical work across lower-limb joints remains poorly understood. This study aimed to determine how fatigue state and task-specific rescue loading [...] Read more.
Firefighters routinely perform short-distance sprints while wearing or carrying occupational gear. Nevertheless, how fatigue interacts with task-specific loading to shape the distribution of mechanical work across lower-limb joints remains poorly understood. This study aimed to determine how fatigue state and task-specific rescue loading affect sprint performance, impact loading, lower-limb joint mechanics, joint work contribution, and muscle activation in male firefighters. Fifty-three male firefighters completed four simulated rescue sprinting tasks under five fatigue conditions: non-fatigue, whole-body fatigue, and mild, moderate, and severe local knee extensor fatigue. Tasks included unloaded sprinting and 7, 20, and 30 kg task-specific rescue-load conditions. Kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic data were collected during the stance phase of the dominant limb. Mild local fatigue was associated with a sprinting speed comparable to the non-fatigue condition and higher than that under whole-body or moderate-to-severe local fatigue. Progressively heavier task-specific rescue loads decreased sprinting speed, prolonged stance time, increased knee work contribution, and decreased ankle work contribution, indicating a redistribution of stance-phase mechanical work from the ankle toward the knee. This compensatory pattern was further modulated by treadmill-induced global locomotor fatigue. In conclusion, this ankle-to-knee redistribution may help firefighters complete high-load rescue sprinting, but it may also increase knee mechanical demand, particularly under global locomotor fatigue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neuromechanics and Precision Motor Control for Functional Health)
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13 pages, 5173 KB  
Article
The Impact of Localized Muscle Fatigue on Multi-Joint Biomechanical Strategies During Stair Ascent
by Wenyue Ma, Tao Liu, Liangsen Wang, Zhengao Li, Zheng Wang and Yuliang Sun
Life 2026, 16(6), 898; https://doi.org/10.3390/life16060898 - 27 May 2026
Viewed by 599
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of localized muscle fatigue (LMF) in the hip, knee, and ankle muscle groups on stair ascent biomechanics, with a focus on identifying compensatory mechanisms following fatigue. Twenty-five participants were fatigued using an isokinetic [...] Read more.
The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of localized muscle fatigue (LMF) in the hip, knee, and ankle muscle groups on stair ascent biomechanics, with a focus on identifying compensatory mechanisms following fatigue. Twenty-five participants were fatigued using an isokinetic dynamometer to induce unilateral muscle fatigue in the hip extension, knee extension, and ankle plantarflexion muscles through repetitive isokinetic contractions. We collected stair ascent data before fatigue and after three different fatigue protocols, simultaneously collecting kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic data. The effects of different muscle fatigue conditions on stair ascent performance were assessed using one-way repeated-measures ANOVA. Key findings revealed that hip fatigue narrowed step width and increased ankle dorsiflexion. Knee fatigue reduced knee extensor moments on the fatigued side and increased hip extension moments bilaterally. Ankle fatigue decreased plantar flexion and increased hip extension moments. Electromyographic data confirmed corresponding shifts in muscle activation. Collectively, the results suggest that localized lower-limb fatigue may alter stair ascent biomechanics in a joint-specific manner. The observed changes in joint moments and muscle activation may reflect a bidirectional pattern of inter-joint compensation, with proximal-to-distal or distal-to-proximal adjustments depending on the fatigued joint. These findings suggest that mechanical and neuromuscular demands may be redistributed across lower-limb joints under acute fatigue conditions; however, given that this study was conducted in healthy young males, the relevance of these findings to stair-related instability or fall risk in more vulnerable populations should be examined in future studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neuromechanics and Precision Motor Control for Functional Health)
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