Imperial College London
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ProfessorDarioFarina

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering

Chair in Neurorehabilitation Engineering
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 1387d.farina Website

 
 
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Location

 

RSM 4.15Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Del:2019:10.1113/JP277396,
author = {Del, Vecchio A and Negro, F and Holobar, A and Casolo, A and Folland, JP and Felici, F and Farina, D},
doi = {10.1113/JP277396},
journal = {The Journal of Physiology},
pages = {2445--2456},
title = {You are as fast as your motor neurons: speed of recruitment and maximal discharge of motor neurons determine the maximal rate of force development in humans},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/JP277396},
volume = {597},
year = {2019}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - KEY POINTS: We propose and validate a method for accurately identifying the activity of populations of motor neurons during contractions at maximal rate of force development in humans. The behaviour of the motor neuron pool during rapid voluntary contractions in humans is presented. We show with this approach that the motor neuron recruitment speed and maximal motor unit discharge rate largely explains the individual ability in generating rapid force contractions. The results also indicate that the synaptic inputs received by the motor neurons before force is generated dictate human potential to generate force rapidly. This is the first characterization of the discharge behaviour of a representative sample of human motor neurons during rapid contractions. ABSTRACT: During rapid contractions, motor neurons are recruited in a short burst and begin to discharge at high frequencies (up to >200 Hz). In the present study, we investigated the behaviour of relatively large populations of motor neurons during rapid (explosive) contractions in humans, applying a new approach to accurately identify motor neuron activity simultaneous to measuring the rate of force development. The activity of spinal motor neurons was assessed by high-density electromyographic decomposition from the tibialis anterior muscle of 20 men during isometric explosive contractions. The speed of motor neuron recruitment and the instantaneous motor unit discharge rate were analysed as a function of the impulse (the time-force integral) and the maximal rate of force development. The peak of motor unit discharge rate occurred before force generation and discharge rates decreased thereafter. The maximal motor unit discharge rate was associated with the explosive force variables, at the whole population level (r2  = 0.71 ± 0.12; P < 0.001). Moreover, the peak motor unit discharge and maximal rate of force variables were correlated with an estimate of the suprasp
AU  - Del,Vecchio A
AU  - Negro,F
AU  - Holobar,A
AU  - Casolo,A
AU  - Folland,JP
AU  - Felici,F
AU  - Farina,D
DO  - 10.1113/JP277396
EP  - 2456
PY  - 2019///
SN  - 1469-7793
SP  - 2445
TI  - You are as fast as your motor neurons: speed of recruitment and maximal discharge of motor neurons determine the maximal rate of force development in humans
T2  - The Journal of Physiology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/JP277396
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30768687
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/67590
VL  - 597
ER  -
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