Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 22 (2012) 74–79

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Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jelekin

Spatial EMG potential distribution pattern of vastus lateralis muscle during

isometric knee extension in young and elderly men
Kohei Watanabe a,b,⇑, Motoki Kouzaki c, Roberto Merletti d, Mami Fujibayashi a,e, Toshio Moritani a
a
Laboratory of Applied Physiology, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
b
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Kyoto, Japan
c
Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
d
Laboratorio di Ingegneria del Sistema Neuromuscolare, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
e
Division of Physical and Health Education, Setsunan University, Osaka, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The aim of the present study was to compare spatial electromyographic (EMG) potential distribution dur-
Received 1 February 2011 ing force production between elderly and young individuals using multi-channel surface EMG (SEMG).
Received in revised form 20 September Thirteen elderly (72–79 years) and 13 young (21–27 years) healthy male volunteers performed ramp
2011
submaximal contraction during isometric knee extension from 0% to 65% of maximal voluntary contrac-
Accepted 20 September 2011
tion. During contraction, multi-channel EMG was recorded from the vastus lateralis muscle. To evaluate
alteration in heterogeneity and pattern in spatial EMG potential distribution, coefficient of variation
Keywords:
(CoV), modified entropy and correlation coefficients with initial torque level were calculated from
Aging multi-channel SEMG at 5% force increment. Increase in CoV and decrease in modified entropy of RMS
Multi-channel surface electromyography with increase of exerted torque were significantly smaller in elderly group (p < 0.05) and correlation coef-
Knee extensor ficients with initial torque level were significantly higher in elderly group than in young group at mod-
erate torque levels (p < 0.05). These data suggest that the increase of heterogeneity and the change in the
activation pattern are smaller in elderly individuals than in young individuals. We speculated that multi-
channel SEMG pattern in elderly individual reflects neuromuscular activation strategy regulated predom-
inantly by clustering of similar type of muscle fibers in aged muscle.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Recently, multichannel surface EMG (multi-channel SEMG)

Muscular weakness in elderly people has been explained by
age-related morphological change in skeletal muscle, e.g. decline
of muscle mass (Deschenes, 2004; Lang et al., 2010; Thompson,
2009). On the other hand, the underlying physiological mecha-
nisms in aged-neuromuscular system have yet to be fully under-
stood. The muscular force production is determined by for
recruitment of motor unit (MU) and firing rate of recruited MUs.
Previous studies investigated the behavior of MU in order to clarify
the age related neuromuscular system during force production
(Kamen, 2005; Roos et al., 1997). However, these knowledge are
provided from a very small portion of the muscle using intramus-
cular electromyography (EMG) technique (Nelson et al., 1983; Roos
et al., 1999; Welsh et al., 2007). The invasiveness could be also one
of the issues of this technique in order to apply to elderly people
and other wide population.
⇑ Corresponding author at: Laboratory of Applied Physiology, Graduate School of
Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshidanihonmatsucho,
Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Tel./fax: +81 75 753 2878.
E-mail address: watanabe.kohei@aw7.ecs.kyoto-u.ac.jp (K. Watanabe).
technique is developing as methodology to estimate MU behavior
in the large area of a muscle during force production (Farina
et al., 2008; Holtermann et al., 2008; Holtermann and Roeleveld,
2006; Merletti et al., 2008). The previous studies using multi-chan-
nel SEMG reported that spatial activation distribution in a muscle
is non-uniform and spatial EMG potential distribution pattern is al-
tered by contraction levels or fatigue. These phenomenon would be
explained by a spatial inhomogeneity in the location of different
types of muscle fibers (Buchthal et al., 1957; Chanaud and Macph-
erson, 1991) and a clustering of muscle fiber innervated by one MU
in limited territory (Lexell et al., 1986; Lexell and Downham, 1991;
Sjostrom et al., 1986). The previous studies by Holtermann and
Roeleveld (2006), Holtermann et al. (2005), (2009) demonstrated
that alteration of spatial distribution of multi-channel SEMG can
be explained by physiological phenomena of MU recruitment and
suggested that spatial distribution of multi-channel SEMG could
be used to study changes in MU recruitment. While this technique
is indirect way to assess MU behavior, multi-channel SEMG can
non-invasively investigate MU activation in a large area of a mus-
cle during force production at low to high force level.

1050-6411/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2011.09.010
 K. Watanabe et al. / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 22 (2012) 74–79
In this study, we aimed to compare spatial EMG potential distri-
bution during force production between elderly and young individ-
uals using multi-channel SEMG. In aged-skeletal muscle, number
of MU decreases, innervation ratio increases caused by motor unit
remodeling and this MU remodeling is generally altered such that
fast type fibers are selectively denervated and reinnervated by ax-
ons from slow type MU (Deschenes, 2004; Lang et al., 2010). These
morphological changes would induce that the large area is occu-
pied by similar type of MUs (muscle fibers) such as clustering (Lex-
ell et al., 1986; Lexell and Downham, 1991; Sjostrom et al., 1986).
We expected that clustering of similar type of MUs (muscle fibers)
are reflected as low heterogeneity and small change in spatial EMG
potential distribution with increase of force level in elderly individ-
uals as compared with young individuals. In this study, the vastus
lateralis (VL) muscle in the quadriceps femoris (QF) muscle group
was used since the QF muscle group has been focused on most
aging study (Knight and Kamen, 2008; Roos et al., 1999; Young
et al., 1984, 1985) and the effect of task dependent artifact on
EMG potential distribution could be minimized as the VL is a
mono-articular muscle.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Subjects
Thirteen elderly men (age: 72–79 years, height: 164.0 ± 3.2 cm,
body mass: 58.7 ± 5.4 kg) and 13 young men (age: 21–27 years,
height: 172.0 ± 7.3 cm, body mass: 65.2 ± 6.6 kg) volunteered for
this experiment. They gave written informed consent for the study
after receiving a detailed explanation of the purposes, potential
benefits, and risks associated with participation in the study. All
subjects were healthy with no history of any neurological disor-
ders, and their vision corrected to normal levels with corrective
lenses. All procedures used in this study were in accordance with
the Declaration of Helsinki and were approved by the Committee
for Human Experimentation at the Graduate School of Human
and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University.
2.2. Experimental design
The subjects performed maximal voluntary contractions (MVC)
and ramp submaximal contraction during isometric knee exten-
sion. During submaximal contraction, multi-channel SEMG was re-
corded from VL muscle.
Isometric knee extensions were performed on a custom dyna-
mometer mounted force transducer (LU-100KSE; Kyowa Electronic
Instruments, Tokyo, Japan). During contraction, both hip and knee
joint angles were flexed at 90° (180° is fully extended), respectively.
The MVC involved a gradual increase in knee extension force exerted
by the knee extensor muscles from baseline to maximum in 2–3 s
and then sustained at maximum for 2 s (Watanabe and Akima,
2009). The timing of the task was based on a verbal count given at
a 1-s interval, with vigorous encouragement from the investigators
when the force began to plateau. The subjects performed at least two
MVC trials with P2 min rest between trials. The highest MVC force
was used to calculate the MVC torque and target torque for ramp
submaximal contraction. Knee extension torque was calculated as
the product of the knee extension force and length between the esti-
mated knee joint center and the distal portion of the shank linked to
force transducer. After MVC, the ramp submaximal contraction from
0% to 80% of the MVC force with approximately 10% of the MVC
force/1 s of ramp rate was performed. The produced and target tor-
ques were shown to the subjects on a personal computer monitor.
Subjects practiced MVC and ramp submaximal contraction
P10 min before test session.
75
2.3. EMG recording
Multi-channel SEMG signals were detected from the VL muscle
with a semi-disposable adhesive grid of 64 electrodes (ELS-
CH064R3S, OT Bioelectronica, Torino, Italy). The grid is made of 13
rows and 5 columns of electrodes (1 mm diameter, 8 mm inter-elec-
trode distance in both directions) with one missing electrode at the
upper left corner. Prior to attaching the electrode grid, the skin was
shaved, abraded and cleaned with alcohol. Conductive gels were in-
serted into the cavities of the grid electrode to assure proper elec-
trode skin contact. The center of electrode grid was placed at mid-
point of the line between the head of great trochanter and inferior
lateral edge of patella. The rows of electrodes were placed along
the longitudinal axis of VL muscle such as the line between the head
of great trochanter and inferior lateral edge of patella. The position of
missing electrode was located at proximal side of longitudinal axis
of VL muscle. The grid electrode was connected to the amplifier
through four connectors which were fixed at the subject skin by
elastic tape. A reference electrode was placed at the iliac crest. At
the center of electrode location, longitudinal ultrasonographic im-
age (SSD-900, ALOKA, Tokyo, Japan) were taken to determine the
thickness of the subcutaneous tissue and VL muscle.
Monopolar EMG signals were amplified by a factor of 1000,
sampled at 2048 Hz and converted to digital form by a 12-bit ana-
log-to-digital converter (EMG-USB, OT Bioelectronica, Torino, Italy)
with the signal of force transducer. Recorded monopolar surface
EMG signals were off-line band-pass filtered (10–500 Hz) and
transferred into analysis software (MATLAB 7, MathWorks GK, To-
kyo, Japan). Fifty-nine bipolar surface EMG signals along the rows
were made from 64 electrodes. To calculate root mean square
(RMS), EMG signals were sampled over 1 s at 5% increment from
20% to 80% of MVC ramp contraction. Since performed ramp rate
was 10% of the MVC force/1 s of sampled signals were overlapped
by 0.5 s between neighboring contraction levels.
To characterize heterogeneity in spatial EMG potential distribu-
tion at individual torque levels, coefficient of variation (CoV) and
modified entropy were used in the present study. CoV was defined
as quotient of standard deviation among 59 RMS and averaged va-
lue of 59 RMS at a torque level. Modified entropy of the spatial dis-
tribution of EMG amplitude was calculated for 59 RMS values (in
space) of single differential signals computed over a 1 s epoch ta-
ken at 20%, 25%, . . ., 75%, 80% of MVC during the ramp contraction.
As done by Farina et al. (2008) in a previous work, modified entro-
py was defined as entropy of the signal power, that is
X59
E¼ pðiÞ2 log2 pðiÞ2
i¼1
where p(i) is the square of the RMS value of channel i divided by the
sum of the squares of all the 59 RMS values, at the given force level.
Therefore p(i)2 represents the normalized power of each channel. It
is E = 0 when all the p(i) are zero except one and is maximal and
equal to log2 59 = 5.884 when the p(i) values are identical and equal
to 1/59 (all channels have the same energy). Increase in CoV and de-
crease in modified entropy, respectively, mean that increase of het-
erogeneity in spatial EMG potential distribution within an electrode
grid.
Correlation coefficients were calculated from the 59 pairs of RMS
values at the same regions between 20% of MVC and those of all
other torque levels to compare the spatial EMG potential distribu-
tion pattern. Decrease of correlation coefficient indicates change in
spatial EMG potential distribution pattern. In the present study,
MU recruitment strategy was estimated from these three variables.
2.4. Statistics
All data are provided as mean and SD. Before the analysis, the
normal distribution of the data was confirmed using Shapiro–Wilk
76 K. Watanabe et al. / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 22 (2012) 74–79
test. The parametric analysis was used for normally distributed
data and the non-parametric analysis was used for non-normally
distributed data. MVC torques and thickness of subcutaneous tis-
sue and VL muscle between groups was compared using t-test.
CoV and modified entropy of RMS were analyzed using two-way
(group  torque) analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated mea-
sures. In the case of two-factor interaction, the analysis was broken
into t-test at each torque level to compare the value between el-
derly and young groups. One-way ANOVA with repeated measures
was also applied to CoV and modified entropy of RMS for each
group. Normal distribution and homogeneity of variance for ana-
lyzed data were confirmed for two-way ANOVA and t-test, respec-
tively. Correlation coefficient was analyzed using Friedman test for
each group and using Mann–Whitney U-test at each torque level to
compare the value between elderly and young groups. The level of
statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Statistical analyses were
performed using SPSS software (version 15.0; SPSS, Tokyo, Japan).
3. Results
MVC torque was significantly different between elderly
(104.4 ± 9.7 N m) and young men (188.6 ± 25.4 N m) (p < 0.05).
There was no significant difference in thickness of subcutaneous tis-
sue between the groups (0.58 ± 0.18 cm for elderly men and
0.54 ± 0.20 cm for young men). Thickness of VL muscle was signifi-
cantly greater in young men (2.72 ± 0.32 cm) comparing with el-
derly men (1.67 ± 0.28 cm) (p < 0.05).
All subjects could perform until 65% of MVC during the ramp con-
traction. The RMSs of multi-channel SEMG from 20% to 65% of MVC
were analyzed. Fig. 1 illustrates representative multi-channel SEMG
amplitude shown as color maps and the calculated parameters of
multi-channel SEMG amplitude at selected torque level for elderly
and young men. As compared to young men, similar amplitude
intensity area is larger in elderly men at high torque levels (50–
65% MVC), reflecting lower CoV of amplitude and higher modified
entropy in elderly men at high torque levels. With increase of ex-
erted torque, alteration of distribution was mainly seen in color,
but not in pattern in elderly men, while alteration of distribution
was seen in both color and pattern in young men. These alterations
of spatial EMG potential distribution were reflected as decrease of
correlation coefficient value with increase of contraction level in el-
derly men and small change of that in young men.
Significant group-by-torque interactions were seen for CoV and
modified entropy of RMS (p < 0.05) (Figs. 2 and 3). There was no
significant difference between elderly and young groups for CoV
of RMS at each torque level (Fig. 2). Modified entropy at 65% of
MVC was significantly larger in elderly group than in young group
(p < 0.05) (Fig. 3). CoV and modified entropy of RMS in both groups
were significantly increased and decreased, respectively, with in-
crease of exerted torque (p < 0.05) (Figs. 2 and 3).
Correlation coefficients between RMSs at 20% of MVC and those
at other torque level for both elderly and young groups were signif-
icantly decreased with increase of exerted torque (p < 0.05) (Fig. 4).
At 40%, 45% and 50% of MVC, correlation coefficients in elderly
group were significantly higher than in young group (p < 0.05).
4. Discussion
The present study compared the spatial EMG potential distribu-
tion during knee extension between elderly and young individuals
using multi-channel SEMG. The primary results of the present
study were that: (1) changes in CoV of RMS, the modified entropy
of RMS and in the correlation coefficient between RMSs at initial
torque level and other torque levels were found in both groups
in relation to exerted torque, (2) increase in CoV and decrease in
modified entropy of RMS with increase of exerted torque were
smaller in elderly than in young men and (3) correlation coeffi-
cients with initial torque level were higher in elderly than in young
men at moderate torque levels. These results demonstrate that the
heterogeneity and change of pattern in spatial EMG potential dis-
tribution of VL are smaller in elderly individuals than in young
individuals during ramp submaximal isometric contraction.
In the present study, high absolute value in SEMG amplitude
was found in young men comparing with elderly men (Fig. 1). In
addition to physiological factors, it is well known that non-physi-
ological factors, i.e. anatomy, detection system, geometry and so
on, also affect SEMG variables (Farina et al., 2004). The anatomical
properties were considered as the main non-physiological factors
inducing the difference in SEMG amplitude between the groups.
While the thickness of subcutaneous tissue was not significantly
different between the groups, greater thickness of VL muscle was
obtained in young men. This difference in muscle thickness would
reflect age-related morphological changes in the skeletal muscle,
i.e. muscle fiber atrophy and decrease in number of fibers and mo-
tor units (Deschenes, 2004; Lang et al., 2010; Lexell et al., 1986;
Lexell and Downham, 1991; Sjostrom et al., 1986). These morpho-
logical changes could be one of the causes of lower value of EMG
amplitude in elderly men.
In the present study, some subjects couldn’t control or raise
their force to target force at high force level (>65% MVC). It could
be speculated that muscle fatigue might have occurred during
the given task and induced task failure. However, previous studies
reported that young men could keep the sustained isometric force
for 30–70 s at moderate to high force level (50–80% of MVC) during
knee extension (Ebenbichler et al., 1998; Smolander et al., 1998;
Watanabe and Akima, 2010). Since duration was 10 s in our ramp
contraction, we supposed that the main cause of task failure was
not induced by muscle fatigue, but induced by difficulty to control
force at high force level. Also, Sbriccoli et al. (2003) showed that
the speed of isometric contractions (ramp rate) strongly influenced
SEMG responses during a ramp contraction using elbow flexor
muscle (Sbriccoli et al., 2003). Although time or peak force level
was different among the subjects in the present study, ramp rate
was controlled during our ramp contraction. We, thus, could as-
sume that the effect of isometric contraction speed could be min-
imized in our results.
The increase of CoV and decrease of modified entropy of multi-
channel SEMG were demonstrated in both elderly and young men
with torque development (Figs. 2 and 3). To our knowledge, this is
the first attempt to quantify the heterogeneity in spatial EMG poten-
tial distribution at various torque levels in knee extensor muscle.
Such heterogeneity in spatial activation distribution of multi-chan-
nel SEMG means variation of surface EMG amplitudes among chan-
nels. Different types of MUs (muscle fibers) are inhomogeneously
located within a muscle (Buchthal et al., 1957; Chanaud and Macph-
erson, 1991) and MUs are newly recruited as force increases in
accordance with the size principle (Henneman et al., 1965). On the
other hand, change of firing rate of recruited MUs is also considered
as one of the causes for change in spatial activation distribution.
However, since an almost equal change in firing rate with force level
among different MUs was reported during intermediate force level
(De Luca and Hostage, 2010; Erim et al., 1996), it was expected that
recruitment of MUs could become a major cause for the change in
spatial distribution of multi-channel SEMG that has been observed
in the present study.
Correlation analysis is also used to assess changes in spatial
EMG potential distribution. Holtermann et al. (2005) reported that
correlation coefficient of multi-channel SEMG decreased with in-
crease of performed force during ramp isometric contraction in bi-
ceps brachii muscle (Holtermann et al., 2005). This finding suggests
that spatial EMG potential distribution changes with alteration of
exerted force. Moreover, they showed that alteration pattern of
 K. Watanabe et al. / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 22 (2012) 74–79 77

Fig. 1. Representative multi-channel surface electromyography amplitude shown as color maps and the calculated parameters of multi-channel SEMG amplitude at selected
torque level for elderly and young individuals. (A) The scales are different between two examples because of difference in absolute values of EMG amplitude. (B)
Representative multi-channel surface electromyography amplitude shown as color maps normalized by the values at 20% of MVC for visual purpose. These color maps were
obtained by differential surface electromyography signals by using 13 rows and 5 columns of electrodes with 8 mm inter-electrode distance.

of MUs was reported (Holtermann et al., 2005), the correlation

Fig. 2. Coefficient of variation in amplitude of multi-channel surface electromyog-
raphy during ramp contraction in elderly and young individuals.
correlation coefficients during ascending and descending phases
during ramp contraction was not the same (Holtermann et al.,
2005). Since a deviation between recruitment and derecruitment
coefficient of multi-channel SEMG could be reasonably used to
estimate recruitment of global MUs during force production. De-
crease of correlation coefficient of multi-channel SEMG calculated
with respect to a reference force level (20% of MVC) with increase
in torque level was seen in the present study (Fig. 4). Our result of
correlation coefficient of multi-channel SEMG in VL is in agreement
with that in the biceps brachii muscle obtained by Holtermann and
Roeleveld (2006). In addition to CoV and modified entropy of mul-
ti-channel SEMG, correlation coefficient of multi-channel SEMG
with respect to a reference force level could also reflect different
MU recruitment strategies with increase of exerted torque (Holter-
mann et al., 2005).
The present study demonstrated the different pattern of CoV
and modified entropy with increase of exerted torque intensity
during knee extension in relation to exerted torque between el-
derly and young men. The CoV was lower in elderly than in young
78 K. Watanabe et al. / Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 22 (2012) 74–79
Fig. 3. Modified entropy in amplitude of multi-channel surface electromyography
during ramp contraction in elderly and young individuals. ⁄p < 0.05 vs. young group.
Fig. 4. Correlation coefficients calculated with respect to a reference torque level in
amplitude of multi-channel surface electromyography during ramp contraction in
elderly and young individuals. ⁄p < 0.05 vs. young group.
individuals throughout a range of exerted torque (Fig. 2). Also, we
found that modified entropy at 65% of MVC (Fig. 3) and correlation
coefficient at 40–50% of MVC in elderly individuals were higher
than those in young individuals. Considering the above-mentioned
findings of spatially complex distribution with increase of exerted
torque, it is supposed that spatial inhomogeneity in location of dif-
ferent types of MUs or numbers of newly recruited MUs are lower
in elderly individuals. This assumption is well fitted with morpho-
logical changes in aged-neuromuscular system such as decrease in
number of fast type MU, increase in innervation ratio and remod-
eling of MU from fast type to slow type reported in the previous
studies (Deschenes, 2004; Lang et al., 2010; Lexell et al., 1986; Lex-
ell and Downham, 1991; Sjostrom et al., 1986; Thompson, 2009).
These age-related changes were seen in VL muscle (Lexell et al.,
1986; Lexell and Downham, 1991; Sjostrom et al., 1986). Also,
reduction in number of newly recruited MUs with increase in ex-
erted torque might take place by reduction of fast type MU in
aged-neuromuscular system. These age-related changes in neuro-
muscular system would induce decrease of inhomogeneity in loca-
tion of different type MUs or muscle fibers.
In the present study, we applied multi-channel SEMG to clarify
age-related change in motor unit activation. The maps of SEMG
amplitude provide a 2-D description of the amplitude distribution
and of its changes with time, contraction level and age of the sub-
jects. Changes in compartmentalization of activities are immedi-
ately evident while they cannot be observed with one pair, or
one linear array, of electrodes. Also, because of non-invasiveness
this method can be applied to subjects who could not accept intra-
muscular electrodes and to various tasks including moderate to
high force levels. This technique thus could be employed as a tool
to test age-related change in neuromuscular function.
5. Conclusion
We compared spatial EMG potential distribution during force
production between elderly and young individuals using multi-
channel SEMG. The present study indicated that increase of hetero-
geneity and change of pattern in spatial EMG potential distribution
with increase of exerted torque level are smaller in elderly individ-
uals than in young individuals during submaximal isometric con-
traction in VL muscle. We concluded that multi-channel SEMG
pattern of elderly individual reflects neuromuscular activation reg-
ulated predominantly by rate coding of MU and clustering of similar
type of muscle fiber in aged muscle.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by a Grant-Aid for Japan Soci-
ety for the Promotion of Science (No. 22-1944). The authors are sin-
cerely grateful to Mr. Andrea Bottin (OT-Bioengineering, Italy) and
to the Researchers of LISiN (Politecnico di Torino, Italy) for the sup-
port in the use of multi-channel surface electromyography system
(electrode and amplifier). The authors thank Mr. Masanori Ozaki,
Mr. Atsushi Kawakami and Mr. Go Sakamoto of our laboratory for
help with measuring and analyzing surface electromyography. We
acknowledge Prof. Misaka Kimura of Kyoto Prefectual University
of Medicine for helpful suggestions.
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Kohei Watanabe received M.S. degree from Nippon
Sports Science University in 2007 and the Ph.D.
degree from Nagoya University in 2010. Since 2010,
he is working at Laboratory of Applied Physiology,
Graduate School of Human and Environmental
Studies, Kyoto University. as a Postdoctoral
researcher of Japan Society for the Promotion of Sci-
ence. In 2011, he was also working at Laboratory for
Engineering of the Neuromuscular System (LISiN) of
Ploitecnico di Torino, Italy, as a visiting researcher.
His research interests are neuromuscular function
during movement and exercise in human and
assessment of neuromuscular function for lifestyle
disease patients and elderly people during exercise.
Motoki Kouzaki received his Ph.D. degree in 1999
from the Department of Life Science, The University of
Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. From 1999 to 2007, he was an
assistant professor of the Department of Life Science,
The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. In 2007, he was
appointed as an associate professor of the Graduate
School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto
University, Kyoto, Japan, where he is currently director
of the Laboratory of Neurophysiology. His major
research interests focus on neural mechanisms
underlying human motor control as related to muscle
fatigue, especially ‘‘alternate muscle activity of syn-
ergistic muscles’’.
79
Roberto Merletti is full professor of Biomedical
Engineering at Politecnico di Torino and has been
professor at Boston University and researcher at the
Neuromuscular Research Center directed by Prof. C.
De Luca. He is the founder and director of the Labo-
ratory for Engineering of the Neuromuscular System
at Politecnico di Torino. He has been involved in six
European projects and two ESA projects in the field of
engineering of the neuromuscular system. He is a
member of the editorial board of four major bio-
medical engineering journals and published over 200
papers in international peer reviewed journals in the
fields of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and
non-invasive electromyography.
Mami Fujibayashi received the Ph.D. degree in 2010
from the Kyoto University, Japan. Since 2011, she has
been working with the Division of Physical and
Health Education, Setsunan University, as an Associ-
ate Professor. Her research interests are the devel-
opment of exercise therapy for mental illnesses.
Toshio Moritani was born in Japan in 1950. He
received his Ph.D. degree in sports medicine from
the University of Southern California in 1980 under
the direction of Dr. Herbert A. deVries. In 1985,
following faculty appointments at the University of
Texas at Arlington and Texas A&M University, he
returned to Japan and joined the Department of
Integrated Human Studies at Kyoto University. In
1992, he was appointed as associate professor of
Applied Physiology at the Graduate School of
Human and Environmental Studies at Kyoto Uni-
versity and became professor since 2000. He is
currently director of the Laboratory of Applied
Physiology. Dr. Moritani has been elected as fellow
of the American College of Sports Medicine. Dr. Moritani is the editor of the
Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology and European Journal of Applied
Physiology. He has also served as one of the council members and the president of
the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology.