Mechanical Properties and Behaviour of Motor Units in the Tibialis Anterior During Voluntary Contractions

Autor: Jacques Duchateau, Michaël Van Cutsem, Karl Hainaut, Patrick Feiereisen
Rok vydání: 1997
Předmět:
Zdroj: Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology. 22:585-597
ISSN: 1066-7814
DOI: 10.1139/h97-038
Popis: The present work was carried out to analyse the properties and behaviour of Tibialis anterior motor units (MUs) during voluntary contractions in humans. A total of 528 single MU mechanical properties was recorded in 10 subjects by means of the spike-triggered averaging (STA) technique. MU recruitment thresholds and discharge frequencies were recorded during linearly increasing maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). The results indicate a mean (±SD) MU torque of 25.5 ± 21.5 mN•m. and a mean time-to-peak of 45.6 ± 13.6 ms. A comparison of the average MU twitch torque with that of the muscle allowed an estimate of about 300 MUs in the Tibialis anterior. A positive linear relationship was recorded between the MU twitch torque and the recruitment threshold. The mean minimal and maximal discharge frequencies of MUs were 8.4 ± 3.0 Hz and 33.2 ± 14.7 Hz, respectively. The results of the present work indicate that MU behaviour during voluntary contractions is different in the tibialis anterior and in the adductor pollicis. Key words: discharge frequency, recruitment threshold, motor unit count
Databáze: OpenAIRE