Electromyogram power spectrum and features of the superimposed maximal M-wave during voluntary isometric actions in humans at different activation levels

The frequency characteristics of the electromyogram (EMG) power spectrum, such as the median or the mean power frequency. as well as the duration of the muscle compound action potential response to a single supramaximal electrical stimulus (maximal M-wave) may both be related to the conduction velocity (CV) of the muscle fibre. To investigate this further. we studied in ten male subjects: the EMG of the vastus lateralis. vastus medialis and rectus femoris muscles during maximal isometric knee extensions at 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of maximal voluntary contraction and also the maximal M-wave, elicited by a single supramaximal stimulus to the femoral nerve. of the same muscles at rest or superimposed on the same levels of voluntary contraction. The EMG was recorded during the constant force phase of the voluntary contractions, the duration of which was 2.5-4 s, with a 1.5 min pause between contractions. The average EMG (aEMG) and the median frequency (MF) were then calculated. The results indicated that as aEMG increased with increase in force, MF remained unchanged. However, while the amplitude of the M-wave was not affected, the duration of the M-wave was shorter as the force level increased. The duration of the M-wave may be affected by recruitment of faster motor units. by increased firing rate of the active units and by changes in the muscle fibre length. The shorter duration of the M-wave observed at higher force levels was not, however. accompanied by a corresponding increase in MF. The MF could not therefore be used as a parameter to reflect the changes in voluntary muscle activation and CV. When MF was calculated by overlapping the fast Fourier transform (FFT) windows (0.4 s long window moved data point by data point to the right) for I s periods of the isometric plateau phase at each force level, the difference between the lowest and the highest MF was quite substantial. These variations suggest that FFT window placement, i.e. which part of the signal is chosen for the analyses, may play an important role even in isometric situations.