New research was published recently that uses Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) to investigate what muscles are involved in upright posture and imbalances like forward head posture (FHP) or dropped head syndrome (DHS).
 Forward Head Posture |  Visual of the thoracic and cervical spine with forward head posture |
What is THUMS?
THUMS, developed by Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc, is an advanced computerized model of the human body that has been used for crash testing along side regular physical crash test dummies. THUMS can simulate many different human aspects of human form from skin to bone to muscle to internal organs, allowing researchers to understand the extend of injuries people might suffer from any type of accident.
Why this research was done
The researchers wanted to figure out a way to measure what muscles are responsible for maintaining good upright posture and what muscles are not working correcting that cause certain posture imbalances. In the introduction to the study they discuss the challenge of this:
Although muscle activity can be measured using electromyography (EMG), this method is limited to a small number of muscles on the body surface. Muscles involved in spinal movements, such as the flexion and extension of the head and neck are located deep within the body, making it challenging to measure their activity and placing a significant burden on study participants during experiments.
They go on to say:
Conversely, predicting muscle activity through simulation using a human body model is useful for understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of DHS and the effects of rehabilitation. Recent advances in the construction of human body models using computer simulations and finite element (FE) analysis have enabled a detailed analysis of the complex dynamics of the musculoskeletal system. This study aimed to determine the effect of individual muscle activities on the maintenance of an upright posture using a human body FE model to elucidate the mechanism underlying the onset of symptoms related to spinal asymmetry.
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