Effects of aging on motor-unit control properties

Journal of Neurophysiology

Volumn 82, Issue 5, 1999, Pages 2081-2091

  Erim, Zeynep ^a,d   Beg, M Faisal ^a,b   Burke, David T ^c   De Luca, Carlo J ^a,b  

^a BOSTON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b Boston University   (United States)

^c HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL   (United States)

^d NeuroMuscular Research Center   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACTION POTENTIAL; ADULT; AGED; AGING; ARTICLE; FORCE; HUMAN; HUMAN EXPERIMENT; MOTOR UNIT; MUSCLE CONTRACTION; PRIORITY JOURNAL;

EID: 0032738479     PISSN: 00223077     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1152/jn.1999.82.5.2081     Document Type: Article

References (62)

1. ADAM, A., DE LUCA, C., AND ERIM, Z. Hand dominance and motor unit firing behavior. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1373-1382, 1998.
2. ANSVED, T. AND LARSSON, L. Quantitative and qualitative morphological properties of the soleus motor nerve and the L5 ventral root in young and old rats. J. Neurol. Sci. 96: 269-282, 1990.
3. ANSVED, T. AND LARSSON, L. Effects of aging on the motor unit. Prog. Neurobiol. 45: 397-458, 1995.
4. BINDER, M. D., KROIN, J. S., MOORE, G. P., AND STUART, D. G. The response of Golgi tendon organs to single motor unit contractions. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 271: 337-349, 1977.
5. BURKE, R. E. Motor units. Anatomy, physiology, and functional organization. In: Handbook of Physiology. The Nervous System. Motor Control. Bethesda, MD: Am. Physiol. Soc., 1981, sect. 1, vol. II, p. 345-422.
6. BUTCHART, P., FARQUHAR, R., PART, N., AND ROBERTS, R. The effect of age and voluntary contraction on presynaptic inhibition of soleus muscle Ia afferent terminals in man. Exp. Physiol. 78: 235-242, 1993.
7. CAMPBELL, M. J., MCCOMAS, A. J., AND PETITO, F. Physiological changes in ageing muscle. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 36: 174-182, 1973.
8. CLAMANN, H. P. Activity of single motor units during isometric tension. Neurology 20: 254-260, 1970.
9. CORDEN, D. M. AND LIPPOLD, O. C. J. Age-related impaired reflex sensitivity in a human hand muscle. J. Neurophysiol. 76: 2701-2705, 1996.
10. DE LUCA, C. J. Precision decomposition of EMG signals. Methods Clin. Neurophysiol. 4: 1-28, 1993.
11. DE LUCA, C. J. AND ERIM, Z. Common drive of motor units in regulation of muscle force. Trends Neurosci. 17: 299-305, 1994.
12. DE LUCA, C. J., FOLEY, P. J., AND ERIM, Z. Control properties of motor units in constant-force isometric contractions. J. Neurophysiol. 76: 1503-1516, 1996.
13. DE LUCA, C. J., LEFEVER, R. S., MCCUE, M. P., AND XENAKIS, A. P. Behaviour of human motor units in different muscles during linearly varying contractions. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 329: 113-128, 1982a.
14. DE LUCA, C. J., LEFEVER, R. S., MCCUE, M. P., AND XENAKIS, A. P. Control scheme governing concurrently active human motor units during voluntary contractions. J. Physiol. (Lond) 329: 129-142, 1982b.
15. DOHERTY, T. J. AND BROWN, W. F. The estimated numbers and relative sizes of thenar motor units as selected by multiple point stimulation in young and older adults. Muscle Nerve 16: 355-366, 1993.
16. DOHERTY, T. J., VANDERVOORT, A. A., AND BROWN, W. F. Effects of ageing on the motor unit: a brief review. Can. J. Physiol. 18: 331-358, 1993a.
17. DOHERTY, T. J., VANDERVOORT, A. A., TAYLOR, A. W., AND BROWN, W. F. Effects of motor unit losses on strength in older men and women. J. Appl. Physiol. 74: 868-874, 1993b.
18. DORFMAN, L. J., HOWARD, J. E., AND MCGILL, K. C. Influence of Contractile forces on properties of motor unit action potentials: ADEMG analysis. J. Neurol. Sci. 86: 125-136, 1988.
19. ERIM, Z. Evaluation of Common Drive of Motor Unit Discharges (PhD dissertation). Boston, MA: Boston University, 1992.
20. ERIM, Z., DE LUCA, C., AND MINEO, K. Control of motor units in the generation of muscle force. In: XVth Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics in University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, edited by K Hakkinen, K. L. Keskinen, P. V. Komi, and A. Mero. Finland: Gummerus Printing, 1995, p. 254-255.
21. ERIM, Z., DE LUCA, C., MINEO, K., AND AOKI, T. Rank-ordered regulation of motor units. Muscle Nerve 19: 563-573, 1996.
22. GALGANSKI, M. E., FUGLEVAND, A. J., AND ENOKA, R. M. Reduced control of motor output in a human hand muscle of elderly subjects during submaximal contractions. J. Neurophysiol. 69: 2108-2115, 1993.
23. GRIMBY, G., DANNESKIOLD-SAMSOE, B., HVID, K., AND SALTIN, B. Morphology and enzymatic capacity in arm and leg muscles in 78-81 year old men and women. Acta Physiol. Scand. 115: 125-134, 1982.
24. HICKS, A., CUPIDO, C., MARTIN, J., AND DENT, J. Twitch potentiation during fatiguing exercise in the elderly: the effects of training. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 63: 278-281, 1991.
25. HOWARD, J. E., MCGILL, K. C., AND DORFMAN, L. J. Age effects on properties of motor unit action potentials: ADEMG analysis. Ann. Neurol. 24: 207-213, 1988.
26. HULTBORN, H., LIPSKI, J., MACKEL, R., AND WIGSTROM, H. Distribution or recurrent inhibition within a motor nucleus. I. Contribution from slow and fast motor units to the excitation of Renshaw cells. Acta Physiol. Scand. 134: 347-361, 1988.
27. KADHIRESAN, V. A., HASSETT, C. A., AND FAULKNER, J. A. Properties of single motor units in medial gastrocnemius muscles of adult and old rats. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 493: 543-552, 1996.
28. KAMEN, G. AND DE LUCA, C. Motor unit firing behavior in the aged. In: Computer-Aided Electromyography and Expert Systems, edited by J. E. Desmedt. New York: Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., 1989, p. 231-239.
29. KAMEN, G., SISON, S. V., DU, C.C.D., AND PATTEN, C. Motor unit discharge behavior in older adults during maximal effort contractions. J. Appl. Physiol. 79: 1908-1913, 1995.
30. KANDA, K. AND HASHIZUME, K. Changes in properties of the medial gastrocnemius motor units in aging rats. J. Neurophysiol. 61: 737-746, 1989.
31. KATZ, R., MAZZOCHIO, R., PENICAUD, A., AND ROSSI, A. Distribution of recurrent inhibition in the human upper limb. Acta Physiol. Scand. 149: 183-198, 1993.
32. KEEN, D., YUE, G., AND ENOKA, R. Training related enhancement in the control of motor output in elderly humans. Physiol. J. Appl. 77: 2648-2658, 1994.
33. KERNELL, D. The adaptation and the relation between discharge frequency and current strength of cat lumbosacral motoneurones stimulated by long-lasting injected currents. Acta Physiol. Scand. 65: 65-73, 1965.
34. KERNELL, D. AND MONSTER, A. W. Time course and properties of late adaptation in spinal motoneurones of the cat. Exp. Brain Res. 46: 191-196, 1982.
35. LARSSON, L. Motor units: remodeling in aged animals. J. Gerontol. Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 50: 91-95, 1995.
36. LARSSON, L., SJODIN, B., AND KARLSSON, J. Histochemical and biochemical changes in human skeletal muscle with age in sedentary males, age 22-65 years. Acta Physiol. Scand. 103: 31-39, 1977.
37. LEFEVER, R. S. AND DE LUCA, C. J. A procedure for decomposing the myoelectric signal into its constituent action potentials. Part I. Technique, theory and implementation. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 29: 149-157, 1982.
38. LEFEVER, R. S., XENAKIS, A. P., AND DE LUCA, C. J. A procedure for decomposing the myoelectric signal into its constituent action potentials. Part II. Execution and test for accuracy. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 29: 158-164, 1982.
39. LEXELL, J. Evidence for nervous system degeneration with advancing age. J. Nutr. 127: 1011S-1013S, 1997.
40. LEXELL, J., SJOSTROM, M., AND TAYLOR, C. C. What is the cause of ageing atrophy? Total number, size and proportion of different fiber types studied in whole vastus lateralis muscle from 15-83-year-old men. J. Neurol. Sci. 84: 275-294, 1988.
41. MACINTOSH, B. R., GRANGE, R. W., CORY, C. R., AND HOUSTON, M. E. Contractile properties of rat gastrocnemius muscle during staircase fatigue and recovery. Exp. Physiol. 79: 59-70, 1994.
42. MAMBRITO, B. AND DE LUCA, C. J. A technique for the detection, decompositon and analysis of the EMG signal. Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 59: 175-188, 1984.
43. MASAKADO, Y., NODA, Y., NAGATA, M., KIMURA, A., CHINO, N., AND AKABOSHI, K. Macro-EMG and motor unit recruitment threshold: differences between the young and the aged. Neurosci. Lett. 179: 1-4, 1994.
44. MCCOMAS, A. J. Ageing. In: NeuroMuscular Function and Disorders. New York: Butterworths, 1977, p. 101-108.
45. MERLETTI, R., LO CONTE, L. R., ACTIS, M. V., AND CISARI, C. Age related changes in surface myoelectric signals. Scand. J. Rehab. Med. 24: 25-36, 1992.
46. MILNER-BROWN, H. S., STEIN, R. B., AND YEMM, R. The contractile properties of human motor units during voluntary isometric contractions. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 228: 285-306, 1973.
47. MORALES, F., BOXER, P., FUNG, S., AND CHASE, M. Basic electrophysiological properties of spinal cord motoneurons during old age in cats. J. Neurophysiol. 58: 180-194, 1987.
48. MORITA, H., SHINDO, M., YANAGAWA, S., YOSHIDA, T., MOMOI, H., AND YANAGISAWA, N. Progressive decrease in heteronymous monosynaptic Ia facilitation with human ageing. Exp. Brain Res. 104: 167-170, 1995.
49. NELSON, R. M., SODERBERG, G. L., AND URBSCHEIT, N. L. Alteration of motor-unit discharge characteristics in aged humans. Phys. Ther. 64: 29-34, 1984.
50. NEWTON, J. P. AND YEMM, R. Changes in contractile properties of the human first dorsal interosseus muscle with age. Gerontology 32: 98-104, 1986.
51. NEWTON, J. P., YEMM, R., AND MCDONAGH, M.J.N. Study of age changes in the motor units of the first dorsal interosseous muscle in man. Gerontology 34: 115-119, 1988.
52. PERSON, R. S. AND KUDINA, L. P. Discharge frequency and discharge Pattern of human motor units during voluntary contraction of muscle. Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 32: 471-483, 1972.
53. POLIAKOV, A., POWERS, R., SAWCZUK, A., AND BINDER, M. Effects of background noise on the response of rat and cat motoneurones to excitatory current transients. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 495: 143-157, 1996.
54. RAMIREZ, V. AND ULFHAKE, B. Anatomy of dendrites in motoneurons in supplying the intrinsic muscles of the foot sole in the aged cat: evidence for dendritic growth and neo-synaptogenesis. J. Comp. Neurol. 316: 1-16, 1992.
55. ROOS, M. R. AND RICE, C. L. Age-related changes in neuromuscular properties of human quadriceps. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 28: S163, 1996.
56. ROOS, M. R., RICE, C. L., AND VANDERVOORT, A. A. Age-related changes in motor unit function. Muscle Nerve 20: 679-690, 1997.
57. ROSSI, A. AND MAZZACHIO, R. Presence of homonymous recurrent inhibition in motoneurons in supplying different lower limb muscles in humans. Exp. Brain Res. 84: 367-373, 1991.
58. SODERBERG, G. L., MINOR, S. D., AND NELSON, R. M. A comparison of motor unit behaviour in young and aged subjects. Age Ageing 20: 8-15, 1991.
59. SWASH, M. AND FOX, K. P. The effect of age on human skeletal muscle: studies of the morphology and innervation of muscle spindles. J. Neurol. Sci. 16: 417-432, 1972.
60. VANDERVOORT, A. A., QUINLAN, J., AND MCCOMAS, A. J. Twitch potentiation after voluntary contraction. Exp. Neurol. 81: 141-152, 1983.
61. WELCH, P. The use of fast Fourier transform for the estimation of power spectra: a method based on time averaging over short, modified periodograms. IEEE Trans. Audio ElectroAcoust. AU-15: 70-73, 1967.
62. ZAR, J. H. Comparing simple linear regression equations. In: Biostatistical Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984, p. 292-305.