
Fred Anapol
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Biological Anthropology/Neuromuscular Biology
Course information
Research Interests
Publications
Baby Pictures

Education:
1988 NRSA Postdoctoral fellow in Oral Anatomy - University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry
1984 Ph.D. Anatomy - State University of New York at Stony Brook
1979 M.A. Anthropology - University of Illinois at Chicago
1974 M.A. Inner-city Studies - Northeastern Illinois University
1968 B.S. Accountancy - University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana)
Society Memberships:
American Anthropological Association
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Anatomists
American Association of Physical Anthropologists
International Primatological Society
International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology
Primate Society of Great Britain
Sigma Xi
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Society for Neuroscience
Courses taught at UWM:
156-101 Introduction to Anthropology: Human Origins (Autumn, 1998)
156-301 Human Evolution and Variation
156-402 Primate Evolution (advanced undergraduates and graduates)
156-403 The Human Skeleton (advanced undergraduates and graduates) (Autumn, 1998)
Research interests:
My research focuses on the neuromuscular biology of feeding and locomotion from the perspectives of both evolutionary morphology and function. In my laboratory, we are currently studying the structural and functional changes that occur in skeletal muscles during masticatory maturation from infant suckling to chewing of solid food. This behavioral transition during early ontogeny occurs in most mammals, including humans. Newborn infant miniature pigs are the animals of choice for this kind of study because of their unique behavioral similarity to, and morphological convergences with, humans. Data collection includes electromyographic (EMG) recordings from masticatory muscles during feeding, histo- and immunocytochemistry assays of frozen serial sections, and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis of single muscle fibers.
Age-related differences in relative proportions of slow and fast twitch muscle fibers in pigs raised on normal diets are compared to age-related differences in EMG patterns that occur when subjects eat foods of varying consistencies. The results are compared with those from a control group raised on a liquefied, but nutritionally equivalent, diet to assess any facultative effects of food resistance on the otherwise genetic control of fiber type development.
Conclusions drawn from this kind of study are clinically applicable toward modulating the design of prosthetic devices and rehabilitative regimens, particularly with regard to infants and children. Further exploration of specific questions generated by the current study will address (1) the physiologic mechanisms that regulate intramuscular motor unit recruitment, using a combination of electrophysiology, glycogen depletion, and retrograde labeling of motoneurons and (2) the genetic control of fiber type transformation during ontogeny, using in situ hybridization of messenger RNA.
Publications relevant to neuroscience
- Shapiro, L., F. Anapol, and W. Jungers (1997). Interlimb coordination, gait, and neural control in chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates. Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. 102:177-186.
- Anapol, F., and K. Barry (1996). Fiber architecture of the extensors of the hindlimb insemiterrestrial and arboreal guenons. Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. 99(3):429-447.
- Herring, S.W., F.C. Anapol, and L.E. Wineski (1991). Motor unit territories in the masseter muscle of infant pigs. Archiv. Oral Biol. 36(12):867-873.
- Anapol, F., and S.W. Herring (1989). Length-tension relationships of masseter and digastricmuscles of miniature swine during ontogeny. J. Exp. Biol. 143:1-16.
- Herring, S.W., L.E. Wineski, and F.C. Anapol (1989). Neural organization of the masseter muscle in the pig. J. Comp. Neurol. 280(4):563-576.
- Anapol, F.C., and W.L. Jungers (1987). Telemetered electromyography of the fast and slowextensors of the leg of the brown lemur (Lemur fulvus). J. Exp. Biol. 130:341-358.
- Anapol, F.C., Z.F. Muhl, and J.H. Fuller (1987). The force-velocity relation of the rabbit digastric muscle. Archiv. Oral Biol. 32(2):93-99.
- Anapol, F., and W.L. Jungers (1986). Architectural and histochemical diversity within thequadriceps femoris of the brown lemur (Lemur fulvus). Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol.69(3):355-375.
- Jungers, W.L., and F. Anapol (1985). Interlimb coordination and gait in the brown lemur(Lemur fulvus) and talapoin monkey (Miopithecus talapoin). Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol.67(2):89-98.