ArticleActa physiologica (Oxford, England)2022
Neuromuscular recruitment strategies of the vastus lateralis according to sex.
Article in Acta physiologica (Oxford, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed.
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- A practical complex training model for non-athletic populations: a randomized controlled trial on lower-limb power and sprint performance.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Motor unit discharge properties are modestly influenced by menstrual cycle-related fluctuations in sex hormone concentrations.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Caffeine as an Ergogenic Aid for Neuromuscular Performance: Mechanisms of Action from Brain to Motor Units.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Relationship Between Quadriceps Neuromuscular Activity and Knee Extensor Strength at Four Months After ACL Reconstruction in High-Level Young Athletes.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Neuromuscular adaptations in soleus and tibialis anterior muscles in persons with spinal cord injury.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Motor unit adaptation to disuse: crossing the threshold from firing rate suppression to neuromuscular junction transmission.The Journal of physiology · 2025Review
- No Differences in Motor Units Discharge Rate Between Females and Males in Explosive Ankle Dorsiflexions.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2025Article
- Sex disparities of human neuromuscular decline in older humans.The Journal of physiology · 2025Article
- The influence of sex on lower limb biomechanical characteristics during single-leg drop landing in individuals with unilateral functional ankle instability.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Can non-invasive motor unit analysis reveal distinct neural strategies of force production in young with uncomplicated type 1 diabetes?European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Sex differences in the effects of mental fatigue on single-leg drop landing biomechanics among sport science university students.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Changes in motor unit behaviour across repeated bouts of eccentric exercise.Experimental physiology · 2024Article
- DYNamic Assessment of Multi-Organ level dysfunction in patients recovering from COVID-19: DYNAMO COVID-19.Experimental physiology · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimDespite males typically exhibiting greater muscle strength and fatigability than females, it remains unclear if there are sex-based differences in neuromuscular recruitment strategies e.g. recruitment and modulation of motor unit firing rate (MU FR) at normalized forces and during progressive increases in force.
methodsThe study includes 29 healthy male and 31 healthy female participants (18-35 years). Intramuscular electromyography (iEMG) was used to record individual motor unit potentials (MUPs) and near-fibre MUPs from the vastus lateralis (VL) during 10% and 25% maximum isometric voluntary contractions (MVC), and spike-triggered averaging was used to obtain motor unit number estimates (MUNE) of the VL.
resultsMales exhibited greater muscle strength (P < .001) and size (P < .001) than females, with no difference in force steadiness at 10% or 25% MVC. Females had 8.4% and 6.5% higher FR at 10% and 25% MVC, respectively (both P < .03), while the MUP area was 33% smaller in females at 10% MVC (P < .02) and 26% smaller at 25% MVC (P = .062). However, both sexes showed similar increases in MU size and FR when moving from low- to mid-level contractions. There were no sex differences in any near-fibre MUP parameters or in MUNE.
conclusionIn the vastus lateralis, females produce muscle force via different neuromuscular recruitment strategies to males which is characterized by smaller MUs discharging at higher rates. However, similar strategies are employed to increase force production from low- to mid-level contractions. These findings of similar proportional increases between sexes support the use of mixed sex cohorts in studies of this nature.
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