Effects of reciprocal inhibition and whole‐body relaxation on persistent inward currents estimated by two different methods
Persistent inward currents (PICs) are crucial for initiation, acceleration, and maintenance of motoneuron firing. As PICs are highly sensitive to synaptic inhibition and facilitated by serotonin and noradrenaline, we hypothesised that both reciprocal inhibition (RI) induced by antagonist nerve stimulation and whole-body relaxation (WBR) would reduce PICs in humans. To test this, we estimated PICs using the well-established paired motor unit (MU) technique. High-density surface electromyograms were recorded from gastrocnemius medialis during voluntary, isometric 20-s ramp, plantarflexor contractions and decomposed into MU discharges to calculate delta frequency (ΔF). Moreover, another technique (VibStim), which evokes involuntary contractions proposed to result from PIC activation, was used. Plantarflexion torque and soleus activity were recorded during 33-s Achilles tendon vibration and simultaneous 20-Hz bouts of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) of triceps surae. ΔF was decreased by RI (n = 15, 5 females) and WBR (n = 15, 7 females). In VibStim, torque during vibration at the end of NMES and sustained post-vibration torque were reduced by WBR (n = 19, 10 females), while other variables remained unchanged. All VibStim variables remained unaltered in RI (n = 20, 10 females). Analysis of multiple human MUs in this study demonstrates the ability of local, focused inhibition to attenuate the effects of PICs on motoneuron output during voluntary motor control. Moreover, it shows the potential to reduce PICs through non-pharmacological, neuromodulatory interventions such as WBR. The absence of a consistent effect in VibStim might be explained by a floor effect resulting from low-magnitude involuntary torque combined with the negative effects of the interventions.
Funding
Versus Arthritis Foundation Fellowship (ref: 4422569)
Slovenian Research Agency (project J2-1731 and Programme funding P2-0041)
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
The Journal of PhysiologyVolume
600Issue
11Pages
2765 - 2787Publisher
WileyVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Rights holder
© The AuthorsPublisher statement
This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Wiley under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Acceptance date
2022-04-13Publication date
2022-05-19Copyright date
2022ISSN
0022-3751eISSN
1469-7793Publisher version
Language
- en