Motor units and muscle force Flashcards
What is a motor neuron?
efferent neuron
motor cortex
brainstem
spinal cord
innervate muscles and glands to enable voluntary and involuntary motions
What is a Motor unit?
1 motor neuron and its innervated muscle fibers
What is a motor nucleus?
cluster of cell bodies of (hundred) motor neurons that innervate the same muscle
What is an afferent/efferent impulse?
afferent: from sensory organ to nervous system
efferent: from nervous system to effector organs
What are the different kinds of motor neurons?
alpha motorneuron: send info to skeletal muscles
gamma: send info to the muscle spindle fibers –> adjust the sensitivity of muscle spindle
what is an agonist muscle?
contract to create force and enable a movement
what is an antagonist muscle?
oppose the action of an agonist to control and module movements
How does stepping spinal reflex/stretch-reflex work?
Stimulus: muscle is stretched –> muscle spindle –> afferent impulse –> spinal cord
Coordination of alpha MN and gamma MN
Alpha MN: Efferent impulses –> contraction of the stretched muscles + inhibit contraction of antagonistic muscles
gamma MN just the sensitivity of muscle spindles
What is an innervation number?
number of muscle fibers innervated by a single motor neuron
What is the innervation number used for?
indicate the finest control of the muscle
small number –> finer control
What is the distribution of innervation numbers across the population of motor units?
Innervation number increases exponentially within a population of MUs –> non-linear
Most motor units innervate fewer fibers, while fewer large ones innervate many fibers.
How much of the fibers have low innervation numbers?
within a muscle e.g. in the first dorsal interosseous muscle
50%
innervation nr = 0-900
smaller MUs innervate type I fibers, have low innervation numbers
What are the 2 mechanisms used to control muscle forces, when the muscle develops a force?
recruitment - when
rate coding - speed
what is the recruitment threshold?
level of stimulation required to activate a motor unit
what is the discharge rate?
rate coding
the rate at which each of the active MN discharges APs