Relationship between firing rate and recruitment threshold of motoneurons in voluntary isometric contractions
Open accessAbstract
We used surface EMG signal decomposition technology to study the control properties of numerous simultaneously active motor units. Six healthy human subjects of comparable age (21 +/- 0.63 yr) and physical fitness were recruited to perform isometric contractions of the vastus lateralis (VL), first dorsal interosseous (FDI), and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles at the 20, 50, 80, and 100% maximum voluntary contraction force levels. EMG signals were collected with a five-pin surface array sensor that provided four channels of data. They were decomposed into the constituent action potentials with a new decomposition algorithm. The firings of a total of 1,273 motor unit action potential trains, 20-30 per contraction, were obtained. The recruitment thresholds and mean firing rates of the motor units were calculated, and mathematical equations were derived. The results describe a hierarchical inverse relationship between the recruitment thresholds and the firing rates, including the first and second derivatives, i.e., the velocity and the acceleration of the firing rates. This relationship describes an "operating point" for the motoneuron pool that remains consistent at all force levels and is modulated by the excitation. This relationship differs only slightly between subjects and more distinctly across muscles. These results support the "onion skin" property that suggests a basic control scheme encoded in the physical properties of motoneurons that responds consistently to a "common drive" to the motoneuron pool.
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Significant differences in firing rate among the motor units with different recruitment thresholds are normally presented in young adults and this is known as onion skin phenomenon.
“Significant differences in firing rate among the motor units with different recruitment thresholds are normally presented in young adults (7) and this is known as onion skin phenomenon (39,40).”
From Modulation of Neural and Muscular Adaptation Processes During Resistance Training by Fish Protein Ingestions in Older Adults (2020) · cites this paper as [39]
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“Significant differences in firing rate among the motor units with different recruitment thresholds are normally presented in young adults (7) and this is known as onion skin phenomenon (39,40).”
Background
- Authors
- De Luca, C. J., & Hostage, E. C.
- Affiliations
- NeuroMuscular Research Center,
- Boston University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Neurophysiology
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Published
- 2010-08
- Volume
- 104
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 1034-1046
- ISSN
- 0022-3077 (ISSN-L)
- 1522-1598
- PMC
- PMC2934917
- OpenAlex
- W2113200940
- Cited by
- 326
- References
- 63
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 7.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Neurophysiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS058250, R01NS058250)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-050111, R01HD050111)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Muscle activation and electromyography studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Keywords
- motor unit recruitment threshold, motor unit firing rate, motoneuron pools, isometric voluntary contraction, surface electromyography, EMG signal decomposition, common drive, vastus lateralis, first dorsal interosseous muscle, tibialis anterior, motor unit action potentials
- MeSH terms
- Action Potentials, Electromyography, Female, Humans, Isometric Contraction, Male, Motor Neurons, Recruitment, Neurophysiological, Regression Analysis, Muscle, Skeletal, Muscle Strength, Young Adult
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