Comparison of the contractile responses to irregular and regular trains of stimuli during microstimulation of single human motor axons

2014 ◽  
Vol 111 (7) ◽  
pp. 1499-1506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Leitch ◽  
Vaughan G. Macefield
Keyword(s):  
Angular Displacement ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Common Peroneal Nerve ◽  
Displacement Transducer ◽  
Motor Axons ◽  
Interspike Intervals ◽  
Contractile Responses ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Voluntary Contractions

During voluntary contractions, human motoneurons discharge with a physiological variability of ∼20%. However, studies that have measured the contractile responses to microstimulation of single motor axons have used regular trains of stimuli with no variability. We tested the hypothesis that irregular (physiological) trains of stimuli produce greater contractile responses than regular (nonphysiological) trains of identical mean frequency but zero variability. High-impedance tungsten microelectrodes were inserted into the common peroneal nerve and guided into fascicles supplying a toe extensor muscle. Selective microstimulation was achieved for 14 single motor axons. Contractile responses were measured via an angular displacement transducer over the relevant toe. After the responses to regular trains of 10 stimuli extending from 2 to 100 Hz were recorded, irregular trains of 10 stimuli, based on the interspike intervals recorded from single motor units during voluntary contractions, were delivered. Finally, the stimulation sequences were repeated following a 2-min period of continuous stimulation at 10 Hz to induce muscle fatigue. Regular trains of stimuli generated a sigmoidal increase in displacement with frequency, whereas irregular trains, emulating the firing of volitionally driven motoneurons, displayed significantly greater responses over the same frequency range (8–24 Hz). This was maintained even in the presence of fatigue. We conclude that physiological discharge variability, which incorporates short and long interspike intervals, offers an advantage to the neuromuscular system by allowing motor units to operate on a higher level of the contraction-frequency curve and taking advantage of catch-like properties in skeletal muscle.

scholarly journals Comparison of contractile responses of single human motor units in the toe extensors during unloaded and loaded isotonic and isometric conditions

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 1083-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Leitch ◽  
Vaughan G. Macefield
Keyword(s):  
Angular Displacement ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Common Peroneal Nerve ◽  
Maximal Response ◽  
Motor Axons ◽  
Contractile Responses ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Additional Load ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Human Motor

Much of the repertoire of muscle function performed in everyday life involves isotonic dynamic movements, either with or without an additional load, yet most studies of single motor units measure isometric forces. To assess the effects of muscle load on the contractile response, we measured the contractile properties of single motor units supplying the toe extensors, assessed by intraneural microstimulation of single human motor axons, in isotonic, loaded isotonic, and isometric conditions. Tungsten microelectrodes were inserted into the common peroneal nerve, and single motor axons ( n = 10) supplying the long toe extensors were electrically stimulated through the microelectrode. Displacement was measured from the distal phalanx of the toe with either an angular displacement transducer for the unloaded (i.e., no additional load) and loaded (addition of a 4-g mass) isotonic conditions or a force transducer for the isometric conditions. Mean twitch profiles were measured at 1 Hz for all conditions: rise time, fall time, and duration were shortest for the unloaded isotonic conditions and longest for the isometric conditions. Peak displacements were lower in the loaded than unloaded isotonic conditions, and the half-maximal response in the loaded condition was achieved at lower frequencies than in the unloaded isotonic condition. We have shown that the contractile responses of single motor units supplying the human toe extensors are influenced by how they are measured: twitches are much slower when measured in loaded than unloaded isotonic conditions and slowest when measured in isometric conditions.

scholarly journals Discharge behaviour of single motor units during maximal voluntary contractions of a human toe extensor

2000 ◽  
Vol 528 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaughan G. Macefield ◽  
Andrew J. Fuglevand ◽  
John N. Howell ◽  
Brenda Bigland‐Ritchie
Keyword(s):  
Motor Units ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Voluntary Contractions ◽  
Discharge Behaviour

Synchronization of single motor units during voluntary contractions in the upper and lower extremities

2001 ◽  
Vol 112 (7) ◽  
pp. 1243-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myung-Shin Kim ◽  
Yoshihisa Masakado ◽  
Yutaka Tomita ◽  
Naoichi Chino ◽  
Young Sook Pae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lower Extremities ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Upper And Lower Extremities ◽  
Voluntary Contractions

Activation of Lip Motor Units With Variations in Speech Rate and Phonetic Structure

1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 772-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. McClean ◽  
John L. Clay
Keyword(s):  
Speech Rate ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Interspike Intervals ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Lower Lip ◽  
Firing Rates ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Lip Movement ◽  
Intraoral Pressure

The purpose of this study was to describe the activation characteristics of lip-muscle single motor units in relation to speech rate and phonetic structure. Repeated experiments were carried out on three adult subjects from whom recordings of lower lip EMG and two-dimensional displacement were obtained. Single motor unit recordings were obtained from the orbicularis oris inferior (OOI), depressor labii inferior (DLI), and mentalis (MENT) muscles. Subjects' tasks involved repeating CV syllables at 1 to 4 syllables per second (syl/sec). The distribution of interspike intervals and corresponding firing rates were obtained on 11 motor units. The firing rates of OOI and MENT motor units increased as syllable rate changed from 1 to 3 syl/sec, but firing rates tended to be equivalent at 3 and 4 syl/sec. DLI and tonic motor units showed little or no modulation in their firing rates with speech rate. Firing rate data and related observations on lip movement and EMG spike count levels suggest that distinct neuromechanical processes control lip movements at low and high speech rates. Both kinematic and EMG data support the expectation that phonetic structure has its greatest effects on lip opening compared to lip closing movements in CV syllables. OOI and MENT activation levels tended to be highest for /p/ productions compared to /w/ and /f/. This may be related to the requirements for complete lip closure and elevated levels of intraoral pressure for production of /p/.

Intraneural microstimulation of motor axons in the study of human single motor units

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope A. McNulty ◽  
Vaughan G. Macefield
Keyword(s):  
Motor Units ◽  
Motor Axons ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Single Motor Units

scholarly journals In vivo magnetic and electric recordings from nerve bundles and single motor units in mammalian skeletal muscle. Correlations with muscle force.

1991 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 1043-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
F L Gielen ◽  
R N Friedman ◽  
J P Wikswo
Keyword(s):  
Motor Unit ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Common Peroneal Nerve ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Twitch Force ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Single Motor Units ◽  
Compound Action Potentials ◽  
Compound Action

Recent advances in the technology of recording magnetic fields associated with electric current flow in biological tissues have provided a means of examining action currents that is more direct and possibly more accurate than conventional electrical recording. Magnetic recordings are relatively insensitive to muscle movement, and, because the recording probes are not directly connected to the tissue, distortions of the data due to changes in the electrochemical interface between the probes and the tissue are eliminated. In vivo magnetic recordings of action currents of rat common peroneal nerve and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle were obtained by a new magnetic probe and amplifier system that operates within the physiological temperature range. The magnetically recorded waveforms were compared with those obtained simultaneously by conventional, extracellular recording techniques. We used the amplitude of EDL twitch force (an index of stimulus strength) generated in response to graded stimulation of the common peroneal nerve to enable us to compare the amplitudes of magnetically recorded nerve and muscle compound action currents (NCACs and MCACs, respectively) with the amplitudes of electrically recorded nerve compound action potentials (NCAPs). High, positive correlations to stimulus strength were found for NCACs (r = 0.998), MCACs (r = 0.974), and NCAPs (r = 0.998). We also computed the correlations of EDL single motor unit twitch force with magnetically recorded single motor unit compound action currents (SMUCACs) and electrically recorded single motor unit compound action potentials (SMUCAPs) obtained with both a ring electrode and a straight wire serving as a point electrode. Only the SMUCACs had a relatively strong positive correlation (r = 0.768) with EDL twitch force. Correlations for ring and wire electrode-recorded SMUCAPs were 0.565 and -0.366, respectively. This study adds a relatively direct examination of action currents to the characterization of the normal biophysical properties of peripheral nerve, muscle, and muscle single motor units.

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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