Biomaterial Database

Human motor units studied by spike-triggered averaging and intraneural motor axon stimulation. 1995

C K Thomas

Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami School of Medicine, Florida 33136, USA.

When low-threshold motor units are activated at low rates during sustained, weak voluntary contractions, most unit force profiles exhibit fatigue but some force potentiation. These data, obtained by spike-triggered averaging, are compared to the fatigue resistance of human motor units activated at twitch and tetanic rates by intraneural motor axon stimulation. With the latter technique, representative sampling of the motor units from one muscle group shows that unit force fatigue or potentiation at submaximal frequencies, and contractile rate changes, dictate the shifts in unit force-frequency relationships. More diverse fatigue protocols, and when possible, careful comparisons of data obtained by both these techniques, are needed to further our understanding of the force and frequency changes of single motor units during voluntary and stimulated exercise.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009046	Motor Neurons	Neurons which activate MUSCLE CELLS.	Neurons, Motor,Alpha Motorneurons,Motoneurons,Motor Neurons, Alpha,Neurons, Alpha Motor,Alpha Motor Neuron,Alpha Motor Neurons,Alpha Motorneuron,Motoneuron,Motor Neuron,Motor Neuron, Alpha,Motorneuron, Alpha,Motorneurons, Alpha,Neuron, Alpha Motor,Neuron, Motor
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000200	Action Potentials	Abrupt changes in the membrane potential that sweep along the CELL MEMBRANE of excitable cells in response to excitation stimuli.	Spike Potentials,Nerve Impulses,Action Potential,Impulse, Nerve,Impulses, Nerve,Nerve Impulse,Potential, Action,Potential, Spike,Potentials, Action,Potentials, Spike,Spike Potential
D001369	Axons	Nerve fibers that are capable of rapidly conducting impulses away from the neuron cell body.	Axon
D018485	Muscle Fibers, Skeletal	Large, multinucleate single cells, either cylindrical or prismatic in shape, that form the basic unit of SKELETAL MUSCLE. They consist of MYOFIBRILS enclosed within and attached to the SARCOLEMMA. They are derived from the fusion of skeletal myoblasts (MYOBLASTS, SKELETAL) into a syncytium, followed by differentiation.	Myocytes, Skeletal,Myotubes,Skeletal Myocytes,Skeletal Muscle Fibers,Fiber, Skeletal Muscle,Fibers, Skeletal Muscle,Muscle Fiber, Skeletal,Myocyte, Skeletal,Myotube,Skeletal Muscle Fiber,Skeletal Myocyte
D018763	Muscle Fatigue	A state arrived at through prolonged and strong contraction of a muscle. Studies in athletes during prolonged submaximal exercise have shown that muscle fatigue increases in almost direct proportion to the rate of muscle glycogen depletion. Muscle fatigue in short-term maximal exercise is associated with oxygen lack and an increased level of blood and muscle lactic acid, and an accompanying increase in hydrogen-ion concentration in the exercised muscle.	Fatigue, Muscle,Muscular Fatigue,Fatigue, Muscular