Neural control of superficial and deep neck muscles in humans.

@article{Blouin2007NeuralCO,
  title={Neural control of superficial and deep neck muscles in humans.},
  author={Jean-S{\'e}bastien Blouin and Gunter P. Siegmund and Mark G. Carpenter and J. Timothy Inglis},
  journal={Journal of neurophysiology},
  year={2007},
  volume={98 2},
  pages={
          920-8
        }
}
Human neck muscles have a complex multi-layered architecture. The role and neural control of these neck muscles were examined in nine seated subjects performing three series of isometric neck muscle contractions: 50-N contractions in eight fixed horizontal directions, 25-N contractions, and 50-N contractions, both with a continuously changing horizontal force direction. Activity in the left sternocleidomastoid, trapezius, levator scapulae, splenius capitis, semispinalis capitis, semispinalis… 
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The assumption of a relationship between jaw clenching and the activity of the neck muscles investigated is supported, however, the low level of co-contraction activity requires further study to elucidate possible pathophysiological interactions at the level of single motor units.
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The assumption of a relationship between jaw clenching and the neck muscle activity investigated is supported, however, the low level of co-contraction activity requires further study to elucidate possible pathophysiological interactions at the level of single motor units.
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Differences in how the activation and material properties of the sternocleidomastoid muscles are modulated as the central nervous system stabilizes the neck during isometric force production are highlighted.
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This thesis directly examined the neural control of the semispinalis cervicis using ultrasound guided intramuscular electromyography (EMG) and compared the activation of this muscle in patients with chronic neck pain and in healthy controls.
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The activation patterns, spatial distribution and preferred directions of reflexively activated cervical muscles for human model development and validation were determined to determine muscle- and direction-specific activation schemes during simulations of the head and neck responses to omnidirectional horizontal perturbations.
Cross-validated models of the relationships between neck muscle electromyography and three-dimensional head kinematics during gaze behavior.
TLDR
During gaze fixations, recruitment within the neck muscles from which the authors recorded contributed primarily to position-dependent horizontal orientation terms in their data set, with more complex multidimensional contributions emerging during the head movements that accompany gaze shifts.
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