Electromyography— dynamic gross anatomy: A review

“Electromyography: Dynamic Gross Anatomy” is the first in a series of invited review articles by leaders in fields of current interest. Students often ask if anything really “new” has been discovered in gross anatomy in the last fifty years. The answer is an unqualified “yes,” and electromyography probably has provided more of this new information than any other technique. Not since the pioneering work of Duchenne in 1867 has any one man contributed so much to our knowledge of the function of the musculoskeletal system as Dr. John V. Basmajian, Professor of Medicine and Associate in Anatomy at McMaster University and Director of Rehabilitation and Continuing Care Centres of Chedoke‐McMaster Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since his initial publication in 1952, he has written over 200 scientific papers on electromyography. He is the author of Muscles Alive: Their Functions Revealed by Electromyography, now in its fourth edition, and the author or co‐author of numerous other books on gross anatomy, kinesiology, therapeutic exercise and clinical electro‐neurography. In 1965, Dr. Basmajian was one of the founders of the International Society of Electromyographic Kinesiology (now the International Society of Electrophysiologic Kinesiology), and he served as its first president. In recognition of his many contributions to the discipline, ISEK dedicated its Sixth International Congress to him. Universally recognized as the undisputed leader in the field, Professor Basmajian is the ideal person to summarize the “state of the art” for the readers of The American Journal of Anatomy.