scholarly journals O037 Genioglossus motor control following the return to sleep after brief arousal

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A16-A16
Author(s):  
A Dawson ◽  
J Avraam ◽  
C Nicholas ◽  
A Kay ◽  
J Trinder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Units ◽  
Firing Frequency ◽  
Nasal Mask ◽  
Persistent Activity ◽  
Genioglossus Muscle ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Airway Collapse ◽  
Obstructive Sleep ◽  
Persistent Firing ◽  
Healthy Participants

Abstract Rationale Arousal from sleep has been shown to elicit a prolonged increase in genioglossus muscle activity that persists following the return to sleep and may protect against airway collapse. We hypothesised that this increased genioglossal activity following return to sleep after an arousal is due to persistent firing of inspiratory single motor units (SMUs) recruited during the arousal. Methods 34 healthy participants were studied overnight while wearing a nasal mask/pneumotachograph to measure ventilation and with 4 intramuscular genioglossus SMU electrodes. During stable N2 and N3 sleep, auditory tones were played to induce brief (3-15s) AASM arousals. Ventilation and genioglossus SMUs were quantified for 5 breaths before the tone, during the arousal and for 10 breaths after the return to sleep. Results A total of 1089 tones were played and gave rise to 236 SMUs recorded across arousal and the return to sleep in 20 participants (age 23±4.2 years and BMI 22.5±2.2kg/m2). Ventilation was elevated above baseline during arousal and the first post-arousal breath (p<0.001). The peak firing frequency of expiratory and tonic SMUs was unchanged during arousal and return to sleep, whereas inspiratory modulated SMUs were increased during the arousal and for 4 breaths following the return to sleep (p<0.001). Conclusions The prolonged increase in genioglossus activity that occurs on return to sleep after arousal is a result of persistent activity of inspiratory SMUs. Strategies to elevate inspiratory genioglossus SMU activity may be beneficial in preventing/treating obstructive sleep apnea.

scholarly journals P005 The effect of alcohol on the motor control of the genioglossus muscle

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A23-A23
Author(s):  
J Avraam ◽  
A Dawson ◽  
C Nicholas ◽  
A Kay ◽  
F O’Donoghue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nasal Congestion ◽  
Upper Airway ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Depressant Effect ◽  
Genioglossus Muscle ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Obstructive Sleep ◽  
Breath Alcohol Concentration

Abstract Rationale Alcohol is recognised to worsen snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This effect is thought to be due to alcohol’s depressant effect on upper airway dilator muscles such as the genioglossus, but how alcohol reduces genioglossus activity is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate alcohol’s effect on genioglossus single motor units (SMUs). Methods Healthy individuals visited the lab on two days (Alcohol: breath alcohol concentration ~0.08% or Placebo). They were instrumented with a nasal mask, 4 intramuscular genioglossus SMU EMG wires and an ear oximeter. They were exposed to 8–12 hypoxia trials (45-60s of 10%O2 followed by one breath of 100%O2) while awake. The SMUs were sorted according to their firing patterns with respect to respiration and were quantified during baseline, hypoxia, hyperoxia and recovery. Results The total number of SMUs recorded at baseline (68 and 67 respectively) and their distribution (ET: 29 vs 22, IP: 5 vs 10, IT: 8 vs 20 and TT: 26 vs 15 respectively) was similar between conditions. The discharge frequency did not differ between conditions (21Hz vs 22.4Hz, p>0.08). There was no difference between placebo and alcohol in the number (101 vs 88 respectively) and distribution (ET: 35 vs 32, IP: 22 vs 16, IT: 14 vs 22 and TT: 30 vs 17 respectively, p<0.05) of SMUs during hypoxia. Afterdischarge following hypoxia was also not different between conditions. Conclusion Alcohol has little effect on genioglossus SMUs and afterdischarge. OSA following alcohol may be related to increased upper airway resistance/nasal congestion.

After-Discharge in the Upper Airway Muscle Genioglossus Following Brief Hypoxia

SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Avraam ◽  
Andrew Dawson ◽  
Nicole Feast ◽  
Feiven Lee Fan ◽  
Monika D Frigant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Upper Airway ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Firing Frequency ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Single Breath ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Persistent Firing ◽  
Respiratory Modulation ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Study Objectives Genioglossus after-discharge is thought to protect against pharyngeal collapse by minimising periods of low upper airway muscle activity. How genioglossus after-discharge occurs and which single motor units (SMUs) are responsible for the phenomenon are unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate genioglossal after-discharge. Methods During wakefulness, after-discharge was elicited 8-12 times in healthy individuals with brief isocapnic hypoxia (45-60s of 10%O2 in N2) terminated by a single breath of 100% O2. Genioglossus SMUs were designated as firing solely, or at increased rate, during inspiration (Inspiratory phasic [IP] and inspiratory tonic [IT] respectively); solely, or at increased rate, during expiration (Expiratory phasic [EP] or expiratory tonic [ET] respectively) or firing constantly without respiratory modulation (Tonic). SMUs were quantified at baseline, the end of hypoxia, the hyperoxic breath and the following 8 normoxic breaths. Results 210 SMU’s were identified in 17 participants. Genioglossus muscle activity was elevated above baseline for 7 breaths after hyperoxia (p<0.001), indicating a strong after-discharge effect. After-discharge occurred due to persistent firing of IP and IT units that were recruited during hypoxia, with minimal changes in ET, EP or Tonic SMUs. The firing frequency of units that were already active changed minimally during hypoxia or the afterdischarge period (P>0.05). Conclusion That genioglossal after-discharge is almost entirely due to persistent firing of previously silent inspiratory SMUs provides insight into the mechanisms responsible for the phenomenon and supports the hypothesis that the inspiratory and expiratory/tonic motor units within the muscle have idiosyncratic functions.

Spontaneous Electromyographic Activity in Adult Rat Soleus Muscle

1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 365-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Eken
Keyword(s):  
Motor Unit ◽  
Soleus Muscle ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Firing Frequency ◽  
Electromyographic Activity ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Adult Rat ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Rat Soleus Muscle

Eken, Torsten. Spontaneous electromyographic activity in adult rat soleus muscle. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 365–376, 1998. Single-motor-unit and gross electromyograms (EMG) were recorded from the soleus muscle in six unrestrained rats. The median firing frequencies of nine motor units were in the 16–25 Hz range, in agreement with previous studies. One additional motor unit had a median firing frequency of 47 Hz. This unit and one of the lower-frequency units regularly fired doublets. Motor-unit firing frequency was well correlated to whole-muscle EMG during locomotion. Integrated rectified gross EMG revealed periods of continuous modulation, phasic high-amplitude events, and tonic low-amplitude segments. The tonic segments typically were caused by a small number of motor units firing at stable high frequencies (20–30 Hz) for extended periods of time without detectable activity in other units. This long-lasting firing in single motor units typically was initiated by transient mass activity, which recruited many units. However, only one or a few units continued firing at a stable high frequency. The tonic firing terminated spontaneously or in conjunction with an episode of mass activity. Different units were active in different tonic segments. Thus there was an apparent dissociation between activity in different single motor units and consequently between single-motor-unit activity and whole-muscle EMG. It is proposed that the maintained tonic motor-unit activity is caused by intrinsic motoneuron properties in the form of depolarizing plateau potentials.

New display of the timing and firing frequency of single motor units

2007 ◽  
Vol 162 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 287-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian P. Saboisky ◽  
Jane E. Butler ◽  
Lee D. Walsh ◽  
Simon C. Gandevia
Keyword(s):  
Motor Units ◽  
Firing Frequency ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Single Motor Units

Maximum shortening speed of motor units of various types in cat lumbrical muscles

1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 442-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Petit ◽  
M. Chua ◽  
C. C. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Motor Unit ◽  
Inverse Correlation ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Maximum Speed ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Maximal Speed ◽  
Contraction Times ◽  
Isometric Twitch ◽  
Lumbrical Muscles ◽  
Speed Of Shortening

1. Isotonic shortening of cat superficial lumbrical muscles was studied during maximal tetanic contractions of single motor units of identified types. For each motor unit, the maximal speed of contraction, Vmax, was determined by extrapolating to zero the hyperbolic relation between applied tension and speed of shortening. 2. The maximal speeds of shortening of motor units formed a continuum with the highest velocities observed for the fast fatigable motor units and the lowest for the slow motor units. 3. On average, the maximum speed of shortening increased with the tetanic tension developed by the motor units. 4. In motor units with isometric twitch contraction times less than 35 ms, these times showed a significant inverse correlation with Vmax. Progressively longer contraction times were associated with rather small changes in Vmax. 5. The implications of these findings on the speed of muscle shortening during motor-unit recruitment are discussed.

Rectification is required to extract oscillatory envelope modulation from surface electromyographic signals

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (7) ◽  
pp. 1685-1691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Dakin ◽  
Brian H. Dalton ◽  
Billy L. Luu ◽  
Jean-Sébastien Blouin
Keyword(s):  
Motor Unit ◽  
Stimulus Frequency ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Surface Emg ◽  
Medial Gastrocnemius ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Emg Signal ◽  
Envelope Modulation

Rectification of surface electromyographic (EMG) recordings prior to their correlation with other signals is a widely used form of preprocessing. Recently this practice has come into question, elevating the subject of EMG rectification to a topic of much debate. Proponents for rectifying suggest it accentuates the EMG spike timing information, whereas opponents indicate it is unnecessary and its nonlinear distortion of data is potentially destructive. Here we examine the necessity of rectification on the extraction of muscle responses, but for the first time using a known oscillatory input to the muscle in the form of electrical vestibular stimulation. Participants were exposed to sinusoidal vestibular stimuli while surface and intramuscular EMG were recorded from the left medial gastrocnemius. We compared the unrectified and rectified surface EMG to single motor units to determine which method best identified stimulus-EMG coherence and phase at the single-motor unit level. Surface EMG modulation at the stimulus frequency was obvious in the unrectified surface EMG. However, this modulation was not identified by the fast Fourier transform, and therefore stimulus coherence with the unrectified EMG signal failed to capture this covariance. Both the rectified surface EMG and single motor units displayed significant coherence over the entire stimulus bandwidth (1–20 Hz). Furthermore, the stimulus-phase relationship for the rectified EMG and motor units shared a moderate correlation ( r = 0.56). These data indicate that rectification of surface EMG is a necessary step to extract EMG envelope modulation due to motor unit entrainment to a known stimulus.

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