Respiratory activity of the cricothyroid muscle

Single motor units of the cricothyroid muscle (CT), the contralateral CT electromyogram, and the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle (PCA) electromyogram were recorded in anesthetized, spontaneously breathing dogs. In quiet breathing the CT was active predominantly in inspiration, and distinct phasic expiratory activity was observed at lighter levels of anesthesia. Both the CT and PCA increased their inspiratory and expiratory activity with hypercapnia, whereas only their inspiratory activity increased in response to negative pressure and/or absence of volume feedback. Cold blockade of either the recurrent laryngeal nerves or the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerves did not modify CT or PCA activity. In general, activity of CT motor units reflected the behavior of the whole muscle, but different units were recruited at different levels of CT activity. Even though the majority exhibited similar thresholds for inspiration and expiration, some units showed a lower threshold for either one, suggesting some degree of specialization. However, for a few units with high threshold for inspiration the expiratory threshold could not be determined, since a comparable level of CT activity was not achieved in expiration.