ReviewThe Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry2008
Persistent inward currents in spinal motoneurons and their influence on human motoneuron firing patterns.
Review in The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 150 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
150 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Age-Related Differences in Corticospinal Function and Muscle Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Modulations in neural pathways excitability post transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation among individuals with spinal cord injury: a systematic review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Acute pre-exercise oral intake of cacao polyphenols attenuates central fatigue development during sustained low-intensity ankle dorsiflexion exercise in healthy young male adults.Physiological reports · 2026Trial
- Mechanisms of cramp contractions: peripheral or central generation?The Journal of physiology · 2011Trial
- Motor Cortex Hyperexcitability Is Coupled to Neuromuscular Dysfunction in Aged Mice.Aging cell · 2026Article
- Probabilistic inference of homonymous and heteronymous recurrent inhibition in human muscles from large-scale motor neuron recordings.Science advances · 2026Article
- Descending Brainstem Systems Contribute to Ankle Clonus in Humans with Spinal Cord Injury.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Differential motor unit firing rate and hypertrophic adaptations of the vastus lateralis despite similar strength increases following high-load versus combined high- and low-load resistance training interventions.Experimental brain research · 2026Article
- Spasticity and Abnormal Tone Regulation After Spinal Cord Injury: Mechanisms and the Effects of Neuromodulation.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Relationship Between Spinal Reflexes and Spastic Movement Disorders.Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics of North America · 2026Review
- Isometric handgrip contraction increases tibialis anterior intrinsic motoneuron excitability in a dose-dependent manner.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Muscle tendon vibration revisited: Why tonic vibration reflex and kinaesthetic illusions matter.The Journal of physiology · 2026Review
- Chaperone mediated autophagy is deficient in spinal motoneurons of ALS patients with TDP-43 proteinopathy.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2026Article
- Body Temperature Regulation in the Rat by Muscle Tone.Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Bed rest and endurance retraining alter persistent inward current estimates in young and older males.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- The Soleus H-Reflex as a Biomarker of Post-Injury Spasticity in Spinal Cord Injury: A Conceptual Pilot Study.NeuroRehabilitation · 2025Article
- Selective facilitation of short latency postural reflexes by instability.Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Ionic Mechanisms Underlying Bistability in Spinal Motoneurons: Insights from a Computational Model.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Sex Differences in Motor Unit Behavior in Patients With Parkinson's Disease.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- A novel protocol to investigate the monoaminergic relationship between descending nociceptive and motor unit neuromodulation.Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference · 2025Article
90 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Persistent inward currents (PICs) are present in many types of neurons and likely have diverse functions. In spinal motoneurons, PICs are especially strong, primarily located in dendritic regions, and subject to particularly strong neuromodulation by the monoamines serotonin and norepinephrine. Because motoneurons drive muscle fibers, it has been possible to study the functional role of their PICs in motor output and to identify PIC-mediated effects on motoneuron firing patterns in human subjects. The PIC markedly amplifies synaptic input, up to fivefold or more, depending on the level of monoaminergic input. PICs also tend to greatly prolong input time course, allowing brief inputs to initiate long-lasting self-sustained firing (i.e., bistable behavior). PIC deactivation usually requires inhibitory input and PIC amplitude can increase to repeated activation. All of these behaviors markedly increase motoneuron excitability. Thus, in the absence of monoaminergic input, motoneuron excitability is very low. Yet PICs have another effect: once active, they tend to sharply limit efficacy of additional synaptic input. All of these PIC effects have been detected in motoneuron firing patterns in human subjects and, hence, PICs are likely a fundamental component of normal motor output.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.