ReviewThe Journal of physiology2023
Common synaptic input, synergies and size principle: Control of spinal motor neurons for movement generation.
Review in The Journal of physiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Does pain influence control of muscle force? A systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Quercetin ingestion alters motor unit behavior and enhances improvement in muscle strength following resistance training in older adults: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.European journal of nutrition · 2025Trial
- Mental fatigue impairs physical performance but not the neural drive to the muscle: a preliminary analysis.European journal of applied physiology · 2023Trial
- Motor Unit Behaviour in the Biceps Brachii During Asymmetric Bilateral Versus Unilateral Dynamic Force Tracking Across Force Levels and Rates of Force Development: A Preliminary Study.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Differential changes in the effective neural drive following new motor skill acquisition between vastus lateralis and medialis.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- A motoneuron discharge-driven interface realizing simultaneous and proportional control of prosthetics in end-users.Science advances · 2026Article
- Implanted microelectrode arrays in reinnervated muscles allow separation of neural drives from transferred polyfunctional nerves.Nature biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- Impact of type of treadmill translation on spatial activity in medial gastrocnemius muscle during standing perturbations.Experimental brain research · 2026Article
- Structured modulations in high-density EMG patterns from a single muscle enable simultaneous control of natural and extra degrees of freedom.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Reduced knee extensor torque steadiness and increased motor unit discharge rate variability in young people with patellofemoral pain: a pilot study.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Functional changes in spinal circuitry in essential tremor revealed with analysis of intramuscle synergies.Journal of neurophysiology · 2026Article
- A spinal substrate for modular control of natural behavior.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A modular architecture for trial-by-trial learning of redundant muscle activity patterns in novel sensorimotor tasks.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Independent neural drives and distinct motor unit discharge characteristics in hamstring muscles during isometric knee flexion.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Adaptation of motor unit synergies in the synergetic ankle plantarflexors in ambulatory persons with incomplete spinal cord injury.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Leveraging neural drive to assess hand motor function in individuals with chronic stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Muscle activation and intermuscular coordination adaptations to early strength training during maximal force production.PloS one · 2026Article
- Neuromechanical basis of region-specific differences and their implications for sport performance and injury prevention: a narrative review.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Review
- Characterization of motor unit activities during isometric elbow flexion with different speeds.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Neuromusculoskeletal Modeling and Force Prediction: Verification Through Experimental Neuromuscular Dynamics.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Understanding how movement is controlled by the CNS remains a major challenge, with ongoing debate about basic features underlying this control. In current established views, the concepts of motor neuron recruitment order, common synaptic input to motor neurons and muscle synergies are usually addressed separately and therefore seen as independent features of motor control. In this review, we analyse the body of literature in a broader perspective and we identify a unified approach to explain apparently divergent observations at different scales of motor control. Specifically, we propose a new conceptual framework of the neural control of movement, which merges the concept of common input to motor neurons and modular control, together with the constraints imposed by recruitment order. This framework is based on the following assumptions: (1) motor neurons are grouped into functional groups (clusters) based on the common inputs they receive; (2) clusters may significantly differ from the classical definition of motor neuron pools, such that they may span across muscles and/or involve only a portion of a muscle; (3) clusters represent functional modules used by the CNS to reduce the dimensionality of the control; and (4) selective volitional control of single motor neurons within a cluster receiving common inputs cannot be achieved. Here, we discuss this framework and its underlying theoretical and experimental evidence.
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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.