ArticleJournal of neural engineering2020
Impact of parameter selection on estimates of motoneuron excitability using paired motor unit analysis.
Article in Journal of neural engineering, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- Age-related differences in motor unit discharge rate modulation across contraction levels.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Muscle cramp susceptibility is associated with muscle-specific modulation of human motoneuron discharge patterns.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Reverse engineering of motor unit discharge in multiple sclerosis reveals heterogeneity of voluntary motor commands.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Isometric handgrip contraction increases tibialis anterior intrinsic motoneuron excitability in a dose-dependent manner.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- The modulation of human motoneuron discharge patterns with contraction force in resistance- and endurance-trained individuals.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2026Article
- Motor unit discharge properties of the vastii muscles and their modulation with contraction level depend on the knee-joint angle.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2026Article
- Is soleus intrinsic motor neuron excitability contributing to motor deficits in runners with Achilles tendinopathy?European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Sex Differences in Motor Unit Behavior in Patients With Parkinson's Disease.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- Non-homogeneous distribution of inhibitory inputs among motor units in response to nociceptive stimulation at moderate contraction intensity.The Journal of physiology · 2025Article
- Intrinsic properties of spinal motoneurons degrade ankle torque control in humans.The Journal of physiology · 2025Article
- Multiple patterns of persistent inward currents with multiple types of repetitive firings in medullary serotonergic neurons of mice: An experimental and modeling study.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Voluntary co-contraction of ankle muscles alters motor unit discharge characteristics and reduces estimates of persistent inward currents.The Journal of physiology · 2024Article
- Relationships among motor unit discharge parameters used to estimate synaptic inputs to motoneurons.Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference · 2024Article
- Article
- Voluntary co-contraction of ankle muscles alters motor unit discharge characteristics and reduces estimates of persistent inward currents.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Estimates of persistent inward currents in lower limb motoneurons are larger in females than in males.Journal of neurophysiology · 2023Article
- A geometric approach to quantifying the neuromodulatory effects of persistent inward currents on individual motor unit discharge patterns.Journal of neural engineering · 2023Article
- Facilitation-inhibition control of motor neuronal persistent inward currents in young and older adults.The Journal of physiology · 2022Article
- Voluntary activation of muscle in humans: does serotonergic neuromodulation matter?The Journal of physiology · 2022Review
- Sex differences in the detection of motor unit action potentials identified using high-density surface electromyography.Journal of electromyography and kinesiology : official journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology · 2022Article
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8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveNoninvasive estimation of motoneuron excitability in human motoneurons is achieved through a paired motor unit analysis (ΔF) that quantifies hysteresis in the instantaneous firing rates at motor unit recruitment and de-recruitment. The ΔF technique provides insight into the magnitude of neuromodulatory synaptic input and persistent inward currents (PICs). While the ΔF technique is commonly used for estimating motoneuron excitability during voluntary contractions, computational parameters used for the technique vary across studies. A systematic investigation into the relationship between these parameters and ΔF values is necessary. APPROACH: We assessed the sensitivity of the ΔF technique with several criteria commonly used in selecting motor unit pairs for analysis and methods used for smoothing the instantaneous motor unit firing rates. Using high-density surface EMG and convolutive blind source separation, we obtained a large number of motor unit pairs (5409) from the triceps brachii of ten healthy individuals during triangular isometric contractions. MAIN
resultsWe found an exponential plateau relationship between ΔF and the recruitment time difference between the motor unit pairs and an exponential decay relationship between ΔF and the de-recruitment time difference between the motor unit pairs, with the plateaus occurring at approximately 1 s and 1.5 s, respectively. Reduction or removal of the minimum threshold for rate-rate correlation of the two units did not affect ΔF values or variance. Removing motor unit pairs in which the firing rate of the control unit was saturated had no significant effect on ΔF. Smoothing the filter selection had no substantial effect on ΔF values and ΔF variance; however, filter selection affected the minimum recruitment and de-recruitment time differences. SIGNIFICANCE: Our results offer recommendations for standardized parameters for the ΔF approach and facilitate the interpretation of findings from studies that implement the ΔF analysis but use different computational parameters.
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