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Motor Units

Motor Units

A motor unit consists of two main components: a single efferent motor neuron (i.e., a neuron that carries impulses away from the central nervous system) and all of the muscle fibers it innervates. The motor neuron may innervate multiple muscle fibers, which are single cells, but only one motor neuron innervates a single muscle fiber.

Motor Units

Motor Units

The motor unit is a fundamental component of the neuromuscular system and plays a crucial role in coordinating muscle contractions. It consists of a somatic motor neuron, which connects and controls multiple skeletal muscle fibers, forming a single functional segment. The axon of the motor neuron branches out and establishes synaptic connections known as neuromuscular junctions with individual muscle fibers within the motor unit.
Motor units come in different sizes, with smaller units...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 20, 2026

A Method for Evaluating Timeliness and Accuracy of Volitional Motor Responses to Vibrotactile Stimuli

A Method for Evaluating Timeliness and Accuracy of Volitional Motor Responses to Vibrotactile Stimuli

Published on: August 2, 2016

Testing the Motor Simulation Account of Source Errors for Actions in Recall.

Nicholas Lange¹, Timothy J Hollins¹, Patric Bach¹

¹School of Psychology, Plymouth University, Plymouth, United Kingdom.

Frontiers in Psychology

|October 17, 2017

Summary

Observing actions can create false memories of performing them, known as the observation inflation effect. This study found no evidence that motor system simulation causes these memory errors.

Keywords:

action memory enactment recall source memory source monitoring

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Observing actions can lead to false memories of self-performance, termed the observation inflation effect.
A prominent explanation involves mirror neuron activation, suggesting motor simulation enriches observed action memories.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of motor simulation in the observation inflation effect.
To examine source memory failures in action recall.

Main Methods:

Three experiments used a novel paradigm minimizing verbalization and prior object knowledge.
Participants took turns performing and observing actions (geometric shapes, letters).
Recall of performed vs. observed actions was tested the next day.

Main Results:

Participants falsely recalled observed actions as self-performed and vice versa.
Concurrent motor tasks did not reduce false self-performance claims.
Explicit monitoring instructions also failed to prevent false memories.

Conclusions:

The findings do not support a motor activation account for observation inflation.
Results suggest that source monitoring processes may be more critical for these memory errors.