title: Recovery of human motoneurons during rotation.
abstract: During prolonged contractions, few studies have reported rotation among low threshold motoneurons. The question arises whether a motoneuron stops firing due to an increase in firing threshold or whether it is due to regional switching of activity among muscle fascicles. We postulated that if the rest period resulted from an increase in firing threshold, a progressive recovery in the excitability of the motoneuron would be observed during the rest period. The excitability of soleus or tibialis anterior motoneurons was tested during the rest periods. The results showed that a previously tonic motoneuron that had dropped off during rotation, rarely responded to Ia or TMS inputs in the initial parts of the rest period; however, its response probability increased significantly in the second half. Based on these data, we suggest that the observed rotation is due to changes in firing thresholds of motoneurons during prolonged firing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Burnham
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Murnaghan
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Calancie
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bawa
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D011336:Probability; D012146:Rest; D012399:Rotation; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult