Non-invasive Investigation of the

Non-invasive Investigation of the Neuromuscular System (NINS) is an official interest group of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). ACSM is the world’s premier professional organization dedicated to physical activity research and clinical practice.

NINS was conceived in the winter of 2002 as a vehicle for drawing together scientists who investigate neuromuscular function using non-invasive methods, and received its formal approval from the ACSM Board of Trustees in July of 2002. NINS seeks to achieve the following three aims:

To support and promote the use of non-invasive methodologies for investigating neuromuscular function;

To discuss areas of common scientific interest; and

To meet in an informal atmosphere that fosters the development of new friendships and new collaborations.

NINS is characterized by great diversity. Our membership includes more than 40 students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty. Our scientific interests span the full spectrum of neuromuscular function, including biochemistry, mechanics, motor control, neuromuscular fatigue, neuromuscular disease, and the systems that interact with and support muscle function. We seek to develop, support, and promote the appropriate use of the methods that we employ, which include computer modeling, electromyography, near infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy, and ultrasound. This remarkable diversity of experience, interests, and techniques allows us to bring a thoughtful, integrated perspective to bear on the problem of muscle function during physical activity.

We recognize that a full understanding of in vivo neuromuscular function requires a great breadth of experimental approaches, ranging from detailed studies of molecular interactions to the complex interactions between organs and systems that occur in vivo. We further realize that many of the challenges that we face in implementing non-invasive technologies are not peculiar to the neuromuscular system, but rather are inherent to technologies that we use. Membership in NINS is therefore open to any ACSM member who shares in our passion for the neuromuscular system and/or in the experimental approaches that we use.