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Vestibular inputs do not influence the fusimotor system in relaxed muscles of the human leg

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Abstract

Descending vestibular pathways have been shown to influence recruitment thresholds of alpha motoneurones in both human and cat. However, whereas parallel connections to the fusimotor system have been shown in the cat, such connections have not yet been demonstrated in humans. In the present study we investigated whether vestibular inputs can influence the firing of spontaneously active muscle spindles in the leg via activation of gamma motoneurones. Unitary recordings were made from 30 muscle spindle afferents via tungsten microelectrodes inserted percutaneously into the common peroneal nerve of seated awake human subjects. Sinusoidal bipolar binaural galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS; frequency 0.2, 0.5, 0.8 Hz, amplitude ±2 mA, 100 cycles) was applied to the mastoid processes. This continuous stimulation produced a sustained frequency-dependent illusion of “rocking in a boat” or “swinging in a hammock”. Despite these robust illusions none of the spontaneously active muscle spindles exhibited phase-locked modulation of firing during sinusoidal GVS. We conclude that this dynamic vestibular input was not sufficient to recruit gamma motoneurones, which are known to have little spontaneous activity in relaxed human muscles.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by NSERC Post Doctoral Fellowship to LRB, and by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (VGM). We express our gratitude to Dr. JB Fallon for technical and editorial contributions to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Leah R. Bent

  2. University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Newcastle, Australia

    P. S. Bolton

  3. Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Sydney, Australia

    V. G. Macefield

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  1. Leah R. Bent
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  2. P. S. Bolton
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  3. V. G. Macefield
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Correspondence to Leah R. Bent.

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Bent, L.R., Bolton, P.S. & Macefield, V.G. Vestibular inputs do not influence the fusimotor system in relaxed muscles of the human leg. Exp Brain Res 180, 97–103 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0836-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0836-5

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