You are as fast as your motor neurons: speed of recruitment and maximal discharge of motor neurons determine the maximal rate of force development in humans

The relationship between stimulation frequency and contraction was established for ventricular strips from rainbow trout heart at 5, 15 and 25 degrees C. Compared to mammalian species, changes in temperature had little impact on force development in trout ventricle at physiologically relevant stimulation frequencies. However, the force-frequency relationship was changed from a biphasic response with a minimum around 0.2 Hz at 5 and 15 degrees C to a monophasic decline in force with increasing frequency at 25 degrees C. Ryanodine reversed the negative force-frequency relationship at 25 degrees C. Potentiation of twitch force after a 5 min rest period was increased from 121 +/− 4% at 15 degrees C to 209 +/− 12% at 25 degrees C. A similar augmentation was seen for the maximal rate of force development. Rest potentiation of both force and maximal rate of force development (dF/dT) was abolished by ryanodine at both 15 and 25 degrees C. The ryanodine concentration causing a half-maximal reduction in rest potentiation of force was 51 nmol l-1 at 25 degrees C and 483 nmol l-1 at 15 degrees C. Rest potentiation was maximally reduced by 10 mumol l-1 ryanodine to 50 and 79% of the value in the absence of ryanodine at 25 and 15 degrees C, respectively. At 5 degrees C, rest potentiation was similar to that at 15 degrees C. At 5 degrees C, there was no rest potentiation of dF/dT and ryanodine did not reduce rest potentiation of force. Instead, rest potentiation was correlated with a potentiation of time to peak tension (TPT) at 5 degrees C. Thus, in trout ventricle, force correlates with TPT at 5 degrees C and seems to be regulated by a ryanodine-insensitive mechanism, while at 25 degrees C force is correlated with the maximal rate of force development and the sarcoplasmic reticulum appears to contribute significantly to excitation-contraction coupling.

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The relative strength of common synaptic input to motor neurons is not a determinant of the maximal rate of force development in humans

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/japplphysiol.00139.2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 127 (1) ◽

pp. 205-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Alessandro Del Vecchio ◽

Deborah Falla ◽

Francesco Felici ◽

Dario Farina

Keyword(s):

Motor Unit ◽

Motor Neurons ◽

Synaptic Input ◽

Discharge Rate ◽

Rate Of Force Development ◽

Force Generation ◽

Unit Discharge ◽

Force Development ◽

Motor Unit Synchronization ◽

Motor Unit Discharge

Correlation between motor unit discharge times, often referred to as motor unit synchronization, is determined by common synaptic input to motor neurons. Although it has been largely speculated that synchronization should influence the rate of force development, the association between the degree of motor unit synchronization and rapid force generation has not been determined. In this study, we examined this association with both simulations and experimental motor unit recordings. The analysis of experimental motor unit discharges from the tibialis anterior muscle of 20 healthy individuals during rapid isometric contractions revealed that the average motor unit discharge rate was associated with the rate of force development. Moreover, the extent of motor unit synchronization was entirely determined by the average motor unit discharge rate ( R > 0.7, P < 0.0001). The simulation model demonstrated that the relative proportion of common synaptic input received by motor neurons, which determines motor unit synchronization, does not influence the rate of force development ( R = 0.03, P > 0.05). Nonetheless, the estimates of correlation between motor unit spike trains were significantly correlated with the rate of force generation ( R > 0.8, P < 0.0001). These results indicate that the average motor unit discharge rate, but not the degree of motor unit synchronization, contributes to most of the variance of human contractile speed among individuals. In addition, estimates of correlation between motor unit discharge times depend strongly on the number of identified motor units and therefore are not indicative of the strength of common input. NEW & NOTEWORTHY It is commonly assumed that motor unit synchronization has an impact on the rate of force development of a muscle. Here we present computer simulations and experimental data of human tibialis anterior motor units during rapid contractions that show that motor unit synchronization is not a determinant of the rate of force production. This conclusion clarifies the neural determinants of rapid force generation.

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