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Reticulospinal drive increases maximal motoneuron output in humans

View ORCID ProfileJakob Škarabot, Jonathan P Folland, View ORCID ProfileAleš Holobar, View ORCID ProfileStuart N Baker, View ORCID ProfileAlessandro Del Vecchio
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.24.477080
Jakob Škarabot
1School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, Loughborough, UK
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  • For correspondence: J.Skarabot@lboro.ac.uk alessandro.del.vecchio@fau.de
Jonathan P Folland
1School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, Loughborough, UK
2Versus Arthritis Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, Loughborough, UK
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Aleš Holobar
3Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
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Stuart N Baker
4Medical Faculty, Newcastle University, NE2 4HH, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Alessandro Del Vecchio
5Department of Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91052, Erlangen, Germany
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  • For correspondence: J.Skarabot@lboro.ac.uk alessandro.del.vecchio@fau.de
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Abstract

Maximal rate of force development in adult humans is determined by the maximal motoneuron output, however the origin of the underlying synaptic inputs remains unclear. Here, we tested a hypothesis that the maximal motoneuron output will increase in response to a startling cue, a stimulus that purportedly activates the pontomedullary reticular formation neurons that make mono- and disynaptic connections to motoneurons via fast-conducting axons. Twenty-two men were required to produce isometric knee extensor forces “as fast and as hard” as possible from rest to 75% of maximal voluntary force, in response to visual (VC), visual-auditory (VAC), or visual-startling cue (VSC). Motoneuron activity was estimated via decomposition of high-density surface electromyogram recordings over the vastus lateralis and medialis muscles. Reaction time was significantly shorter in response to VSC compared to VAC and VC (i.e., the StartReact effect). The VSC further elicited faster neuromechanical responses including a greater number of discharges per motor unit per second and greater maximal rate of force development, with no differences between VAC and VC. We provide evidence, for the first time, that the synaptic input to motoneurons increases in response to a startling cue, suggesting a contribution of subcortical pathways to maximal motoneuron output in humans, likely originating from the pontomedullary reticular formation.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 27, 2022.
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Reticulospinal drive increases maximal motoneuron output in humans
Jakob Škarabot, Jonathan P Folland, Aleš Holobar, Stuart N Baker, Alessandro Del Vecchio
bioRxiv 2022.01.24.477080; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.24.477080
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Reticulospinal drive increases maximal motoneuron output in humans
Jakob Škarabot, Jonathan P Folland, Aleš Holobar, Stuart N Baker, Alessandro Del Vecchio
bioRxiv 2022.01.24.477080; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.24.477080

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