Responses of human motoneurons to la inputs: effects of background firing rate

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 1224-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelvin E. Jones ◽  
Parveen Bawa
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Motor Unit ◽  
Interspike Interval ◽  
Tibial Nerve ◽  
Response Probability ◽  
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Ionic Conductances ◽  
The Times

The effects of synchronous Ia volleys on the firing probability of repetitively firing human motoneurons were examined at fast and slow firing rates. Ia afferents of either the median or the posterior tibial nerve were stimulated, while single motor unit activity was recorded from the homonymous muscles. Motoneuron responses to the Ia inputs were quantified by measurement of the magnitude of the short latency excitatory peak in peristimulus time histograms (PSTHs). When the stimuli were given at random with respect to the times of motor unit spikes, the magnitude of the PSTH peak (response probability) was significantly lower at a faster firing rate. In the "triggered" mode of stimulation, stimuli were given at various known times during the interspike interval. In this mode the response probability to the input increased monotonically as the stimuli were delivered progressively later during the interspike interval. The response probability at a fixed delay with respect to the triggering spike was higher at the faster firing rate. The results obtained with the two modes of stimulation are not in contradiction and both may be explained by the nature of membrane voltage trajectories and ionic conductances during the interspike interval described for repetitively firing cat motoneurons.Key words: motor unit, H-reflex, flexor carpi radialis, soleus, afterhyperpolarization, excitatory postsynaptic potential.

Computer Simulation of the Responses of Human Motoneurons to Composite 1A EPSPS: Effects of Background Firing Rate

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 405-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelvin E. Jones ◽  
Parveen Bawa
Keyword(s):  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Response Probability ◽  
Muscle Spindles ◽  
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Biophysical Properties ◽  
Rhythmic Firing ◽  
The Relationship

Jones, Kelvin E. and Parveen Bawa. Computer simulation of the responses of human motoneurons to composite 1A EPSPS: effects of background firing rate. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 405–420, 1997. Two compartmental models of spinal alpha motoneurons were constructed to explore the relationship between background firing rate and response to an excitatory input. The results of these simulations were compared with previous results obtained from human motoneurons and discussed in relation to the current model for repetitively firing human motoneurons. The morphologies and cable parameters of the models were based on two type-identified cat motoneurons previously reported in the literature. Each model included five voltage-dependent channels that were modeled using Hodgkin-Huxley formalism. These included fast Na+ and K+ channels in the initial segment and fast Na+ and K+ channels as well as a slow K+ channel in the soma compartment. The density and rate factors for the slow K+ channel were varied until the models could reproduce single spike AHP parameters for type-identified motoneurons in the cat. Excitatory synaptic conductances were distributed along the equivalent dendrites with the same density described for la synapses from muscle spindles to type-identified cat motoneurons. Simultaneous activation of all synapses on the dendrite resulted in a large compound excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP). Brief depolarizing pulses injected into a compartment of the equivalent dendrite resulted in pulse potentials (PPs), which resembled the compound EPSPs. The effects of compound EPSPs and PPs on firing probability of the two motoneuron models were examined during rhythmic firing. Peristimulus time histograms, constructed between the stimulus and the spikes of the model motoneuron, showed excitatory peaks whose integrated time course approximated the time course of the underlying EPSP or PP as has been shown in cat motoneurons. The excitatory peaks were quantified in terms of response probability, and the relationship between background firing rate and response probability was explored. As in real human motoneurons, the models exhibited an inverse relationship between response probability and background firing rate. The biophysical properties responsible for the relationship between response probability and firing rate included the shapes of the membrane voltage trajectories between spikes and nonlinear changes in PP amplitude during the interspike interval at different firing rates. The results from these simulations suggest that the relationship between response probability and background firing rate is an intrinsic feature of motoneurons. The similarity of the results from the models, which were based on the properties of cat motoneurons, and those from human motoneurons suggests that the biophysical properties governing rhythmic firing in human motoneurons are similar to those of the cat.

Asymmetric Integration Recorded From Vestibular-Only Cells in Response to Position Transients

2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 2104-2113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Musallam ◽  
R. D. Tomlinson
Keyword(s):  
Angular Velocity ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Vestibular Nucleus ◽  
Semicircular Canals ◽  
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Otolith Organs ◽  
Neural Integrator ◽  
Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Translational Acceleration ◽  
Vestibular Pathways

Angular and translational accelerations excite the semicircular canals and otolith organs, respectively. While canal afferents approximately encode head angular velocity due to the biomechanical integration performed by the canals, otolith signals have been found to approximate head translational acceleration. Because central vestibular pathways require velocity and position signals for their operation, the question has been raised as to how the integration of the otolith signals is accomplished. We recorded responses from 62 vestibular-only neurons in the vestibular nucleus of two monkeys to position transients in the naso-occipital and interaural orientations and varying directions in between. Responses to the transients were directionally asymmetric; one direction elicited a response that approximated the integral of the acceleration of the stimulus. In the opposite direction, the cells simply encoded the acceleration of the motion. We present a model that suggests that a neural integrator is not needed. Instead a neuron with a long membrane time constant and an excitatory postsynaptic potential duration that increases with the firing rate of the presynaptic cell can emulate the observed behavior.

Firing patterns of human flexor carpi radialis motor units during the stretch reflex

1985 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 1179-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Calancie ◽  
P. Bawa
Keyword(s):  
Motor Unit ◽  
Stretch Reflex ◽  
Latency Period ◽  
Response Probability ◽  
Short Latency ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Motoneuron Pool ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Long Latency Reflex

Single motor unit and gross surface electromyographic responses to torque motor-produced wrist extensions were studied in human flexor carpi radialis muscle. Surface EMG typically showed two "periods" of reflex activity, at a short and long latency following stretch, but both periods occurring before a subject's voluntary reaction to the stretch. The amplitude of EMG activity in both reflex periods increased monotonically with an increase in the torque load. The amplitude of the short-latency reflex response was very dependent on the motoneuron pool excitability, or preload. The amplitude of the long-latency reflex response also varied with the preload, but could, in addition, be modulated by the subject's preparatory set for a voluntary response to the imposed displacement. When a single motor unit that was not tonically active began to fire during the stretch reflex, it did so primarily during the long-latency period. When caused to fire repetitively by voluntary facilitation of the motoneuron pool, that same unit now showed activity during both periods of the stretch reflex. Further increases in either motoneuron pool facilitation or in perturbation strength resulted in a monotonic increase in response probability of a single motor unit during the short-latency period. However, the response probability of a single unit during the long-latency reflex period did not always vary in a monotonic way with increases in either torque load or motoneuron pool facilitation. For an additional series of experiments, the subject was instructed on how to respond voluntarily to the upcoming wrist perturbation. The three instructions to the subject had no effect on the response probability of a single motor unit during either the background or short-latency periods of the stretch reflex. However, prior instruction clearly affected a unit's response probability during the long-latency reflex period. Changes in the firing rate of motor units, and in the recruitment or derecruitment of nontonic units, contributed to this modulation of reflex activity during the long-latency period.

scholarly journals Hypoxia on Hippocampal Slices from Mice Deficient in Dystrophin (mdx) and Isoforms (mdx3cv)

2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Godfraind ◽  
Selva Baltan Tekkök ◽  
Krešimir Krnjević
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Conduction ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Full Length ◽  
Mdx Mice ◽  
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Afferent Volley ◽  
The Times ◽  
Time Required

Slices from control C57, mdx, and mdx3cv mice were made hypoxic until both field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) and presynaptic afferent volley (AV) disappeared (H1). After reoxygenation and recovery of fEPSP, a second and longer hypoxic test (H2) lasted 3 minutes beyond the time required to block AV. When slices were kept in 10 mmol/L glucose, H1 abolished AV 37 and 19% earlier in slices from mdx and mdx3cv mutants than in control slices (where H1 = 12 ± 4.6 minutes, mean ± SD). During H2 or when slices were kept in 4 mmol/L glucose, AV vanished even more quickly, but the times to block did not differ significantly between slices from controls and mutants. After reoxygenation, AV fully recovered in most slices. Rates of blockade of fEPSPs were comparable in all slices, and most fEPSPs recovered fully after H1. But even in the presence of 10 mmol/L glucose, the second hypoxia suppressed fEPSPs irreversibly in some slices: 2 of 10 from control, 3 of 7 from mdx, and 1 of 6 from mdx3cv mice. Most slices in 4 mmol/L glucose showed no recovery at all: six of seven from control, three of five from mdx, and four of five from mdx3cv mice. Thus, slices from mdx mice were more susceptible than other slices to irreversible hypoxic failure when slices were kept in 10 mmol/L glucose, but they were less susceptible than other slices when kept in 4 mmol/L glucose. In conclusion, the lack of full-length dystrophin (427 kDa) predisposes to quicker loss of nerve conduction in slices from mdx and mdx3cv mutants and improved posthypoxic recovery of fEPSPs in 4 mmol/L glucose in slices from mdx but not mdx3cv mutants, perhaps because the 70-kDa and other C-terminal isoforms are still present in mdx mice.

Low-threshold motor unit membrane properties vary with contraction intensity during sustained activation with surface EMG visual feedback

2004 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1505-1515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Farina ◽  
Marco Gazzoni ◽  
Federico Camelia
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Motor Unit ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Surface Emg ◽  
Membrane Properties ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Low Threshold ◽  
Over Time

Single-motor unit (MU) activities were detected from the abductor pollicis and abductor digiti minimi muscles providing the subjects with visual feedback of multichannel surface electromyogram (EMG) signals. The subjects could modulate the force to observe on the surface recordings a single dominant MU and modulate its firing rate for contractions of 300 s with a noninvasive EMG feedback. The firing rate was maintained at ∼8 pulses per second [low-frequency (LF) contraction] and at ∼12 pulses per second [high-frequency (HF) contraction]. Single-MU conduction velocity (CV) decreased slightly but significantly over time, and it was possible to identify a significantly larger rate of decrease of CV during the HF with respect to the LF contractions. CV initial value significantly increased with the average firing rate, and CV values were significantly correlated to the instantaneous firing rate ( R ranging from 0.21 to 0.39). Both additional MU recruitment and substitution were observed during the contractions. The study provides evidence that 1) it is possible to follow the same MU in a hand muscle at two different intensities (HF and LF) for 300-s durations by using visual feedback of surface EMG, 2) low-threshold single-MU CV changes over time since the beginning of the contraction, and 3) it is possible to distinguish between CV changes of the same MU at slightly different firing rates. The technique provides a practical method for the noninvasive assessment of both control and membrane properties of single MUs.

scholarly journals MEASUREMENT OF SINGLE MOTOR UNIT FIRING RATE BY ARRAYED SURFACE ELECTRODE

Biomechanisms ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 8 (0) ◽  
pp. 99-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenzo AKAZAWA ◽  
Kazushi MATSUNOKI ◽  
Katsuhiko FUJII ◽  
Masaki YOSHIDA
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Motor Unit ◽  
Surface Electrode ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Single Motor ◽  
Motor Unit Firing

Nonlinear behaviour of human motoneurons

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Smith ◽  
Tao Zhong ◽  
Parveen Bawa
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Motor Unit ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Nonlinear Behaviour ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Single Motor

When ramp-and-hold currents are injected into a motoneuron of an anesthetized cat, the motoneuron responds with a high initial firing rate (dynamic phase), which then adapts to a lower steady-state firing rate. The firing rates during the dynamic and the steady-state phases are linearly related to the rate of change and the magnitude of the injected current, respectively. In human subjects, where inputs to the motoneurons are not accessible, force parameters are used to describe motoneuron behaviour. Population responses of human motoneurons, measured in terms of gross electromyographic (EMG) activity, increase linearly with the magnitude and the rate of change of force. No study has attempted to examine the question of linearity of single motor units during the dynamic as well as the steady-state phases. The following study recorded single motor unit and EMG activities simultaneously from the flexor carpi radialis muscle in human subjects completing ramp-and-hold force trajectories. Although the results confirmed the linear relationship between EMG activities and the rate and magnitude of the force, a nonlinear activity pattern was observed between the single motor unit firing and the force parameters, suggesting that recruitment must be responsible for the linear behaviour of EMG activity. Comparisons of different background activity levels on the firing patterns of a given motor unit, as well as comparisons of two simultaneously recorded units, further supported nonlinear response patterns of single motor units.Key words: human, motoneurons, motor units, nonlinearity, force trajectory, repetitive firing.

scholarly journals Changes in motoneuron afterhyperpolarization duration in stroke survivors

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 1447-1456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneesha K. Suresh ◽  
Xiaogang Hu ◽  
Randall K. Powers ◽  
C. J. Heckman ◽  
Nina L. Suresh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Motor Unit ◽  
Force Production ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Surface Emg ◽  
Stroke Survivors ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
First Dorsal Interosseous Muscle ◽  
Hemiparetic Stroke

Hemispheric brain injury resulting from a stroke is often accompanied by muscle weakness in limbs contralateral to the lesion. In the present study, we investigated whether weakness in contralesional hand muscle in stroke survivors is partially attributable to alterations in motor unit activation, including alterations in firing rate modulation range. The afterhyperpolarization (AHP) potential of a motoneuron is a primary determinant of motoneuron firing rate. We examined differences in AHP duration in motoneurons innervating paretic and less impaired (contralateral) limb muscles of hemiparetic stroke survivors as well as in control subjects. A novel surface EMG (sEMG) electrode was used to record motor units from the first dorsal interosseous muscle. The sEMG data were subsequently decomposed to derive single-motor unit events, which were then utilized to produce interval (ISI) histograms of the motoneuron discharges. A modified version of interval death rate (IDR) analysis was used to estimate AHP duration. Results from data analyses performed on both arms of 11 stroke subjects and in 7 age-matched control subjects suggest that AHP duration is significantly longer for motor units innervating paretic muscle compared with units in contralateral muscles and in units of intact subjects. These results were supported by a coefficient of variation (CV) analysis showing that paretic motor unit discharges have a lower CV than either contralateral or control units. This study suggests that after stroke biophysical changes occur at the motoneuron level, potentially contributing to lower firing rates and potentially leading to less efficient force production in paretic muscles.

scholarly journals Facilitation of sensory axon conduction to motoneurons during cortical or sensory evoked primary afferent depolarization (PAD) in humans

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista M Metz ◽  
Isabel Concha Matos ◽  
Yaqing Li ◽  
Babak Afsharipour ◽  
Christopher K Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Gabaa Receptors ◽  
H Reflex ◽  
Primary Afferent Depolarization ◽  
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Primary Afferent ◽  
Single Motor Unit ◽  
Ia Afferent ◽  
Ia Afferents ◽  
Sensory Evoked

Sensory and cortical pathways activate GABAergic interneurons with axo-axonic connections onto proprioceptive (Ia) afferents that depolarize these afferents (termed primary afferent depolarization, PAD). In rodents sensory-evoked PAD is produced by GABAA receptors at nodes of Ranvier in Ia-afferents, rather than at presynaptic terminals, and facilitates action potential propagation to motoneurons by preventing branch point failures, rather than causing presynaptic inhibition. Here we examined if PAD likewise facilitates the Ia-afferent mediated H-reflex in humans by evoking PAD with both sensory and corticospinal tract (CST) stimulation. H-reflexes in several lower limb muscles were facilitated by prior conditioning from low-threshold proprioceptive, cutaneous or CST pathways, with a similar time course (~200 ms) to the PAD measured in rodent Ia-afferents. Long trains of repeated cutaneous or proprioceptive afferent stimulation produced long-lasting facilitation of the H-reflex for up to 2 minutes, consistent with the tonic depolarization of rodent Ia-afferents mediated by nodal α5-GABAA receptors for similar stimulation trains. Facilitation of the conditioned H-reflexes was not mediated by direct facilitation of the motoneurons because isolated stimulation of sensory or CST pathways did not modulate the firing rate of tonically activated motor units in tested muscles. Furthermore, cutaneous conditioning increased the firing probability of a single motor unit during the H-reflex without increasing its firing rate at this time, indicating that the underlying excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) was more probable, but not larger. These results are consistent with sensory and CST pathways activating nodal GABAA receptors that reduce intermittent failure of action potentials propagating into Ia-afferent branches.

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