Clinical anatomy of ligamentum nuchae

Mercer, Susan; Bogduk, Nikolai

doi:10.1002/ca.10121

Cited by 47 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…These features include more sensitive anterior and posterior semicircular canals, 77 which sense accelerations in the pitching plane, and a nuchal ligament, which may act as a passive, elastic mechanism to stabilize the head. 78,79 To this list we should probably add a more balanced head, because it reduces the moment arm of the pitching forces that need to be counteracted by head extension. Even though more balanced heads probably arose in Homo in part because of bigger brains, which extend more mass behind the AOJ, a smaller face also improves head stabilization performance in bipeds with short vertical necks, as shown in Figure 5.…”

Section: Locomotionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speculations about the selective basis for modern human craniofacial form

Lieberman

2008

Evolutionary Anthropology

111

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The last few decades have seen an explosion of knowledge about the time and place of origin of our species, Homo sapiens. New fossils, more sites, better dates, modern and fossil DNA, and scores of analyses have mostly disproved the multiregional model of human evolution. By and large, the evidence generally supports some version of the out‐of‐Africa model, according to which humans first evolved in Africa at least 200,000 years ago and then migrated to other parts of the world. Remaining debates about human origins primarily address if and how much hybridization occurred between modern humans and taxa of archaic Homo such as H. neanderthalensis.

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Section: Locomotionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speculations about the selective basis for modern human craniofacial form

Lieberman

2008

Evolutionary Anthropology

111

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“…This muscular strap between the shoulder and midline occiput interdigitates with another novel feature in humans, the nuchal ligament (NL). This tendon-like structure originates on the midline of the occiput and connects with the upper trapezius as well as a deeper fascial septum that attaches to the cervical spines (Mercer and Bogduk, 2003). A NL is present in other cursors such as canids, equids and bovids, as well as in a few species with massive heads (Dimery et al, 1985;Bianchi, 1989).…”

Section: Evidence For Skeletal Features That Improve Er Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Brains, Brawn, and the Evolution of Human Endurance Running Capabilities

Lieberman

Bramble

Raichlen

et al. 2009

Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology

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Theories about hominin evolution are often connected intimately with notions of what it is to be human. Such ideas have had a particularly strong infl uence on thinking about the defi nition and origin of the human genus (see Landau, 1993;Wood and Collard, 1999;Wood, 2009). Many, if not most scenarios for the evolution of the genus Homo emphasize the importance of quintessentially human traits such as large brains, tool-making, and complex cognition. Usually these derived features have been interpreted, explicitly or implicitly, as a suite of novel strategies that emphasize cognitive over athletic means of competing with the rest of nature ("red in tooth and claw"). Most animals compete with each other to a signifi cant extent using athletic capabilities such as strength, power, agility and speed. Obviously, humans compare poorly with other mammals, including African apes, in these characteristics: we are weak, slow, and awkward creatures. Even though male chimpanzees weigh less than a typical adult modern human, they can produce much more force, can sprint more rapidly, and are obviously more agile during locomotion (Stedman et al., 2004). Yet, although no human alive could match a chimpanzee in hand-to-hand combat, our cognitive capacities are extraordinarily better developed. Accordingly, it seems reasonable to focus on evolutionary scenarios for the genus Homo that explain the triumph of brains over brawn.Interestingly, the idea that humans are poor athletes is demonstrably wrong in one crucial respect. While humans have comparatively poor performance capabilities in terms of power and strength, we are unusually specialized endurance athletes, with surprisingly impressive aerobic performance capabilities. These capabilities are particularly remarkable for endurance running (ER), defi ned as running long-distances (>5 km) using aerobic metabolism. These capabilities, which have been reviewed in depth by Carrier (1984) and Bramble and Lieberman (2004), compare extremely well to other mammals, especially primates, in terms of several performance criteria such as speed and distance, especially in hot conditions. SpeedHuman ER speeds range from 2.3 to 6.5 m/s. While the latter are elite performance speeds for world-record holders, many amateurs without special training are easily capable of sustained running at 5 m/s. Such speeds are fast compared to the endurance speeds of specialized quadrupedal cursors. A dog of similar body mass to a human (65 kg) has a trot-gallop transition speed of 3.8 m/s, and can sustain a gallop at 7.8 m/s under ideal climatic conditions for only 10-15 min (Heglund and Taylor, 1988). Dogs and other quadrupedal cursors cannot gallop for long periods, especially when it is hot (see below). Thus, while a large dog can outrun a human over short distances of a kilometer or two, most fi t humans can outrun any dog over longer distances. As detailed by Bramble and Lieberman (2004), humans also have remarkable endurance

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“…14 An anatomical study found that the fascial septum of the ligamentum nuchae consisted of dense connective tissue that ran ventrally from the midline raphe to be confluent with the interspinous ligaments and atlantoaxial or atlanto-occipital membranes. 15 In addition, it is attached to the posterior spinal dura at the atlanto-occipital and atlantoaxial levels. 16 Humphreys et al 17 reported the existence of a consistent connective tissue, composed of 3 connective tissue bridges, between the occiput axis and the ligamentum nuchae.…”

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confidence: 99%