Journal
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
Volume 513, Issue 2, Pages 146-150Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2012.02.020
Keywords
Fine-wire electrode; Force fluctuations; Noise
Categories
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan [2268004]
- Uehara Memotial Foundation
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [23700848, 22700592] Funding Source: KAKEN
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The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of subthreshold electrical stimulation on the force fluctuations and motor-unit discharge variability during low-level, steady contraction of the plantar flexor muscles. Seven subjects performed a force-matching task of isometric plantar flexion at 5% of maximal voluntary contraction with and without random electrical stimulation applied to the tibial nerve. During the task, the motor unit action potential was continuously recorded with fine-wire electrodes, and the inter-spike intervals of a single motor unit were calculated. The coefficient of variation (CV) of the force fluctuations and the inter-spike intervals of the motor unit discharge were significantly decreased by the intervention of subthreshold electrical stimulation, although there were no changes in the mean values. These results suggest that subthreshold stimulation reduced the motor-unit discharge variability, which in turn, increased the steadiness of the force. (c) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
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