ArticleThe Journal of physiology2008
Noradrenaline triggers muscle tone by amplifying glutamate-driven excitation of somatic motoneurones in anaesthetized rats.
Article in The Journal of physiology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reverse engineering of motor unit discharge in multiple sclerosis reveals heterogeneity of voluntary motor commands.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Muscle Tone Regulation and Bruxism in Chronic Stress: Pathophysiological Links to Tooth Fractures and Dental Hard Tissue Pathology.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- 40-Year-Old Male with Medial Gastrocnemius Tear after Adderall (Amphetamine/Dextroamphetamine) Use: A Case Report.Journal of orthopaedic case reports · 2026Article
- RVLM C1 Neurons Innervate Sacral as well as Thoracolumbar Autonomic Preganglionic Neurons in the Rat.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2026Article
- Reframing myofascial pain syndrome: pathological disorder or adaptive protective response?Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2026Review
- Pathophysiology of voluntary motor commands at the level of the spinal motoneuron in patients with multiple sclerosis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Pathophysiology and Management Strategies for Post-Stroke Spasticity: An Update Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- A case of prazosin in treatment of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2024Article
- International Consensus Statement on Obstructive Sleep Apnea.International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2023Review
- Article
- Neuromodulatory Inputs to Motoneurons Contribute to the Loss of Independent Joint Control in Chronic Moderate to Severe Hemiparetic Stroke.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Article
- Altered Neuromodulatory Drive May Contribute to Exaggerated Tonic Vibration Reflexes in Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2018Article
- Sleep Disorders: Is the Trigemino-Cardiac Reflex a Missing Link?Frontiers in neurology · 2017Review
- Neural Control of the Upper Airway: Respiratory and State-Dependent Mechanisms.Comprehensive Physiology · 2016Review
- Greatest rapid eye movement sleep atonia loss in men and older age.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2014Article
- Noradrenergic modulation of masseter muscle activity during natural rapid eye movement sleep requires glutamatergic signalling at the trigeminal motor nucleus.The Journal of physiology · 2014Article
- Activation properties of trigeminal motoneurons in participants with and without bruxism.Journal of neurophysiology · 2013Article
- Identification of the transmitter and receptor mechanisms responsible for REM sleep paralysis.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2012Article
- Effect of chronic intermittent hypoxia on noradrenergic activation of hypoglossal motoneurons.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2012Article
- Rats subjected to chronic-intermittent hypoxia have increased density of noradrenergic terminals in the trigeminal sensory and motor nuclei.Neuroscience letters · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Postural muscle tone is potently suppressed during sleep and cataplexy. Since brainstem noradrenergic cell discharge activity is tightly coupled with state-dependent changes in muscle activity, it is assumed that noradrenergic drive on to somatic motoneurones modulates basal muscle tone. However, it has never been determined whether noradrenergic neurotransmission acts to directly regulate motoneurone activity or whether it functions to modulate prevailing synaptic activity. This is an important distinction because noradrenaline regulates cell excitability by both directly depolarizing neurones and by indirectly potentiating glutamate-mediated excitation. We used reverse-microdialysis, electrophysiology, neuro-pharmacological and histological techniques in anaesthetized rats to determine whether strengthening noradrenergic drive (via exogenous noradrenaline application) on to trigeminal motoneurones affects masseter muscle tone by increasing spontaneous motoneurone activity or whether it acts to amplify prevailing glutamate-driven excitation. Although noradrenaline is hypothesized to modulate motor activity, we found that direct stimulation of trigeminal motoneurones by alpha(1)-adrenoceptor activation had no direct effect on basal masseter tone. However, when glutamate-driven excitation was increased at the trigeminal motor pool by either endogenous glutamate release (induced by the monosynaptic masseteric reflex) or exogenous AMPA application, noradrenaline triggered a potent increase in basal masseter tone. The stimulatory effects of noradrenaline were unmasked and rapidly switched on only in the presence of glutamatergic transmission. Blockade of AMPA receptors abolished this excitatory effect, indicating that noradrenergic drive requires ongoing glutamatergic activity. Our data indicate that exogenous noradrenergic drive does not directly affect spontaneous motoneurone discharge activity in anaesthetized rats; rather, it triggers postural muscle tone by amplifying prevailing glutamate-driven excitation.
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Registered trials
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.