Locomotion facilitates behaviour and its underlying physiological mechanisms may therefore impact... more Locomotion facilitates behaviour and its underlying physiological mechanisms may therefore impact behavioural phenotypes. Metabolism is often thought to modulate locomotion and behaviour, but empirical support for this suggestion is equivocal. Muscle contractile function is directly associated with locomotion. Here, we test the hypotheses that muscle mechanics determine locomotor performance and activity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and thereby also affect risk-taking behaviour. We show that there is a mechanistic link between muscle performance and behaviour by manipulating muscle contractile properties, which caused proportional changes in critical sustained swimming performance and, in an open arena, voluntary swimming speed, the proportion of time fish were active, and the latency to move. We modelled the relationships between muscle contractile properties, swimming performance, activity and behaviour with a partial least-squares path model. The latent variable 'muscle', f...
Caffeine is an increasingly popular nutritional supplement due to the legal, significant improvem... more Caffeine is an increasingly popular nutritional supplement due to the legal, significant improvements in sporting performance that it has been documented to elicit, with minimal side effects. Therefore, the effects of caffeine on human performance continues to be a popular area of research as we strive to improve our understanding of this drug and make more precise recommendations for its use in sport. Although variation in exercise intensity seems to affect its ergogenic benefits, it is largely considered that caffeine can promote significant improvements in endurance, power and strength based activities. There are a number of limitations to testing caffeine induced effects on human performance that can be better controlled when testing isolated muscle under in vitro conditions. The hydrophobic nature of caffeine results in a post digestion distribution to all tissues of the body making it difficult to accurately quantify the key mechanism of action. This review considers the contr...
One of the most interesting trade-offs within the vertebrate locomotor system is that between spe... more One of the most interesting trade-offs within the vertebrate locomotor system is that between speed and endurance capacity. However, few studies have demonstrated a conflict between whole-animal speed and endurance within a vertebrate species. We investigated the existence of trade-offs between speed and endurance capacity at both the whole-muscle and whole-animal levels in post-metamorphs of the frog Xenopus laevis. The burst-swimming performance of 55 frogs was assessed using a high-speed digital camera, and their endurance capacity was measured in a constant-velocity swimming flume. The work-loop technique was used to assess maximum power production of whole peroneus muscles at a cycle frequency of 6 Hz, while fatigue-resistance was determined by recording the decrease in force and net power production during a set of continuous cycles at 2 Hz. We found no significant correlations between measures of burst swimming performance and endurance capacity, suggesting that there is no t...
We constructed a force platform to investigate the scaling relationships of the detailed dynamics... more We constructed a force platform to investigate the scaling relationships of the detailed dynamics of jumping performance in striped marsh frogs (Limnodynastes peronii). Data were used to test between two alternative models that describe the scaling of anuran jumping performance; Hill's model, which predicts mass- independence of jump distance, and Marsh's model, which predicts that jump distance increases as M(0.2), where M is body mass. From the force platform, scaling relationships were calculated for maximum jumping force (F(max)), acceleration, take-off velocity (U(max)), mass-specific jumping power (P(max)), total jumping distance (D(J)) and total contact time for 75 L. peronii weighing between 2.9 and 38. 4 g. F(max) was positively correlated with body mass and was described by the equation F(max)=0.16M(0.61), while P(max) decreased significantly with body mass and was described by the equation P(max)=347M(-)(0.46). Both D(J) and U(max) were mass-independent over the p...
Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) undergo bouts of daily torpor in response to reduced phot... more Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) undergo bouts of daily torpor in response to reduced photoperiod. Metabolic rate, body temperature and energy cost are reduced during torpor. The present study exposed Djungarian hamsters to two different photoperiod regimes at a room temperature of 19-21°C: long photoperiod (control, 16 h:8 h light:dark, N=8) and short photoperiod (torpor, 8 h:16 h light:dark, N=8). After 14 weeks, muscle mechanics were analyzed in each group, examining both extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle and soleus muscle from each individual. Control hamsters had significantly greater body mass (43%), EDL mass (24%), EDL length (9%) and soleus mass (48%) than the torpor hamsters. However, there were no significant differences between control and torpor groups in forearm length or soleus muscle length. There were no significant differences in either muscle between control and torpor hamsters in maximum twitch stress (force per unit area), tetanus force generation or ...
American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology, Jan 15, 2014
Previous isolated muscle studies examining the effects of ageing on contractility have used isome... more Previous isolated muscle studies examining the effects of ageing on contractility have used isometric protocols, which have been shown to have poor relevance to dynamic muscle performance in vivo. The present study uniquely uses the work-loop technique for a more realistic estimation of in vivo muscle function to examine changes in mammalian skeletal muscle mechanical properties with age. Measurements of maximal isometric stress, activation and relaxation time, maximal power output, and sustained power output during repetitive activation and recovery are compared in locomotory extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and core diaphragm muscle isolated from 3-, 10-, 30-, and 50-wk-old female mice to examine the early onset of ageing. A progressive age-related reduction in maximal isometric stress that was of greater magnitude than the decrease in maximal power output occurred in both muscles. Maximal force and power developed earlier in diaphragm than EDL muscle but demonstrated a greater age...
The aims of this study were to describe the cellular stress response to prolonged endurance exerc... more The aims of this study were to describe the cellular stress response to prolonged endurance exercise in acute heat, hypoxia and the combination of heat and hypoxia and to determine whether prior acute exposure to these stressors improved cellular tolerance to a subsequent exercise bout in hypoxia 24 h later. Twelve males (age 22 ± 4 years, height 1.77 ± 0.05 m, mass 79 ± 12.9 kg, VO2 max 3.57 ± 0.7 L · min(-1)) completed four trials (30-min rest, 90-min cycling at 50% normoxic VO2 max) in normothermic normoxia (NORM; 18°C, FIO2 = 0.21), heat (HEAT; 40°C, 20% RH), hypoxia (HYP; FIO2 = 0.14) or a combination of heat and hypoxia (COM; 40°C, 20% RH, FIO2 = 0.14) separated by at least 7 days. Twenty-four hours after each trial, participants completed a hypoxic stress test (HST; 15-min rest, 60-min cycling at 50% normoxic VO2 max, FIO2 = 0.14). Monocyte heat shock protein 72 (mHSP72) was assessed immediately before and after each exercise bout. mHSP72 increased post exercise in NORM (107%...
Locomotion facilitates behaviour and its underlying physiological mechanisms may therefore impact... more Locomotion facilitates behaviour and its underlying physiological mechanisms may therefore impact behavioural phenotypes. Metabolism is often thought to modulate locomotion and behaviour, but empirical support for this suggestion is equivocal. Muscle contractile function is directly associated with locomotion. Here, we test the hypotheses that muscle mechanics determine locomotor performance and activity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and thereby also affect risk-taking behaviour. We show that there is a mechanistic link between muscle performance and behaviour by manipulating muscle contractile properties, which caused proportional changes in critical sustained swimming performance and, in an open arena, voluntary swimming speed, the proportion of time fish were active, and the latency to move. We modelled the relationships between muscle contractile properties, swimming performance, activity and behaviour with a partial least-squares path model. The latent variable 'muscle', f...
Caffeine is an increasingly popular nutritional supplement due to the legal, significant improvem... more Caffeine is an increasingly popular nutritional supplement due to the legal, significant improvements in sporting performance that it has been documented to elicit, with minimal side effects. Therefore, the effects of caffeine on human performance continues to be a popular area of research as we strive to improve our understanding of this drug and make more precise recommendations for its use in sport. Although variation in exercise intensity seems to affect its ergogenic benefits, it is largely considered that caffeine can promote significant improvements in endurance, power and strength based activities. There are a number of limitations to testing caffeine induced effects on human performance that can be better controlled when testing isolated muscle under in vitro conditions. The hydrophobic nature of caffeine results in a post digestion distribution to all tissues of the body making it difficult to accurately quantify the key mechanism of action. This review considers the contr...
One of the most interesting trade-offs within the vertebrate locomotor system is that between spe... more One of the most interesting trade-offs within the vertebrate locomotor system is that between speed and endurance capacity. However, few studies have demonstrated a conflict between whole-animal speed and endurance within a vertebrate species. We investigated the existence of trade-offs between speed and endurance capacity at both the whole-muscle and whole-animal levels in post-metamorphs of the frog Xenopus laevis. The burst-swimming performance of 55 frogs was assessed using a high-speed digital camera, and their endurance capacity was measured in a constant-velocity swimming flume. The work-loop technique was used to assess maximum power production of whole peroneus muscles at a cycle frequency of 6 Hz, while fatigue-resistance was determined by recording the decrease in force and net power production during a set of continuous cycles at 2 Hz. We found no significant correlations between measures of burst swimming performance and endurance capacity, suggesting that there is no t...
We constructed a force platform to investigate the scaling relationships of the detailed dynamics... more We constructed a force platform to investigate the scaling relationships of the detailed dynamics of jumping performance in striped marsh frogs (Limnodynastes peronii). Data were used to test between two alternative models that describe the scaling of anuran jumping performance; Hill's model, which predicts mass- independence of jump distance, and Marsh's model, which predicts that jump distance increases as M(0.2), where M is body mass. From the force platform, scaling relationships were calculated for maximum jumping force (F(max)), acceleration, take-off velocity (U(max)), mass-specific jumping power (P(max)), total jumping distance (D(J)) and total contact time for 75 L. peronii weighing between 2.9 and 38. 4 g. F(max) was positively correlated with body mass and was described by the equation F(max)=0.16M(0.61), while P(max) decreased significantly with body mass and was described by the equation P(max)=347M(-)(0.46). Both D(J) and U(max) were mass-independent over the p...
Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) undergo bouts of daily torpor in response to reduced phot... more Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) undergo bouts of daily torpor in response to reduced photoperiod. Metabolic rate, body temperature and energy cost are reduced during torpor. The present study exposed Djungarian hamsters to two different photoperiod regimes at a room temperature of 19-21°C: long photoperiod (control, 16 h:8 h light:dark, N=8) and short photoperiod (torpor, 8 h:16 h light:dark, N=8). After 14 weeks, muscle mechanics were analyzed in each group, examining both extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle and soleus muscle from each individual. Control hamsters had significantly greater body mass (43%), EDL mass (24%), EDL length (9%) and soleus mass (48%) than the torpor hamsters. However, there were no significant differences between control and torpor groups in forearm length or soleus muscle length. There were no significant differences in either muscle between control and torpor hamsters in maximum twitch stress (force per unit area), tetanus force generation or ...
American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology, Jan 15, 2014
Previous isolated muscle studies examining the effects of ageing on contractility have used isome... more Previous isolated muscle studies examining the effects of ageing on contractility have used isometric protocols, which have been shown to have poor relevance to dynamic muscle performance in vivo. The present study uniquely uses the work-loop technique for a more realistic estimation of in vivo muscle function to examine changes in mammalian skeletal muscle mechanical properties with age. Measurements of maximal isometric stress, activation and relaxation time, maximal power output, and sustained power output during repetitive activation and recovery are compared in locomotory extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and core diaphragm muscle isolated from 3-, 10-, 30-, and 50-wk-old female mice to examine the early onset of ageing. A progressive age-related reduction in maximal isometric stress that was of greater magnitude than the decrease in maximal power output occurred in both muscles. Maximal force and power developed earlier in diaphragm than EDL muscle but demonstrated a greater age...
The aims of this study were to describe the cellular stress response to prolonged endurance exerc... more The aims of this study were to describe the cellular stress response to prolonged endurance exercise in acute heat, hypoxia and the combination of heat and hypoxia and to determine whether prior acute exposure to these stressors improved cellular tolerance to a subsequent exercise bout in hypoxia 24 h later. Twelve males (age 22 ± 4 years, height 1.77 ± 0.05 m, mass 79 ± 12.9 kg, VO2 max 3.57 ± 0.7 L · min(-1)) completed four trials (30-min rest, 90-min cycling at 50% normoxic VO2 max) in normothermic normoxia (NORM; 18°C, FIO2 = 0.21), heat (HEAT; 40°C, 20% RH), hypoxia (HYP; FIO2 = 0.14) or a combination of heat and hypoxia (COM; 40°C, 20% RH, FIO2 = 0.14) separated by at least 7 days. Twenty-four hours after each trial, participants completed a hypoxic stress test (HST; 15-min rest, 60-min cycling at 50% normoxic VO2 max, FIO2 = 0.14). Monocyte heat shock protein 72 (mHSP72) was assessed immediately before and after each exercise bout. mHSP72 increased post exercise in NORM (107%...
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