Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30768687›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of physiology2019

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.

Alessandro Del Vecchio, Francesco Negro, Ales Holobar, Andrea Casolo, Jonathan P Folland, Francesco Felici, Dario Farina

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Article in The Journal of physiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 154 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
154citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
15.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

154 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 333 citations in OpenAlex.

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94 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Alessandro Del VecchioDepartment of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Francesco NegroDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Ales HolobarFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, Slovenia.
Andrea CasoloDepartment of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Jonathan P FollandSchool of Sport, Exercise & Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
Francesco FeliciDepartment of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome 'Foro Italico', Rome, Italy.
Dario FarinaDepartment of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7883-2697
Foro Italico University of Rome · ITImperial College London · GBLoughborough University · GBUniversity of Brescia · ITUniversity of Maribor · SI

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

key pointsWe 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 (r

Indexed as

Muscle ContractionRecruitment, NeurophysiologicalAction PotentialsAdultElectromyographyHumansMaleMotor NeuronsBallistic contractionsEMG DecompositionMotor unitNeural DriveSpike frequency adaptation

Identifiers

PMID30768687
PMCPMC6487919
OpenAlexW2921010326

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.