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Non-uniform recruitment along human rectus femoris muscle during transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation

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Abstract

Purpose

To test the hypothesis that motor units with different axonal excitability levels are localized in specific portions of the rectus femoris (RF) muscle using transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.

Methods

M-waves were elicited by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and detected from 24 sites along longitudinal line of the muscle. The stimulation was applied to the femoral nerve, and the current level was gradually increased.

Results

The central locus activation, which is calculated from the spatial distribution of M-waves, appeared at the proximal regions at low stimulation level and then moved to the middle site of the muscle with an increase in the stimulation level. The results reveal that groups of motor units activated at different stimulation levels are located in different positions in the proximal–distal muscle direction.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that motor unit properties in proximal and other regions are not uniform within the RF muscle.

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Abbreviations

RF:

Rectus femoris

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI, a Grant-Aid for Research Activity Start-up (No. 24800071) and Young Scientist B (No. 26750309). This work was supported by the Japanese Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI), Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP Project ID 14533567).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neuromuscular Biomechanics, School of International Liberal Studies, Chukyo University, Yagotohonmachi, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8666, Japan

    Kohei Watanabe

  2. Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Motoki Kouzaki

  3. Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

    Ryosuke Ando & Hiroshi Akima

  4. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

    Ryosuke Ando

  5. Research Center of Health, Physical Fitness and Sports, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

    Hiroshi Akima

  6. Laboratory of Applied Physiology, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Toshio Moritani

Authors
  1. Kohei Watanabe
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  2. Motoki Kouzaki
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  3. Ryosuke Ando
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  4. Hiroshi Akima
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  5. Toshio Moritani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kohei Watanabe.

Additional information

Communicated by Nicolas Place.

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Watanabe, K., Kouzaki, M., Ando, R. et al. Non-uniform recruitment along human rectus femoris muscle during transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 2159–2165 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3196-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3196-7

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