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Updated: Jul 21, 2026
06:31
Force and Position Control in Humans - The Role of Augmented Feedback
Published on: June 19, 2016
Differential controls of small and large motor unit activity in the masseter muscle with incisal stimulation in
1Department of Oral Physiology, Niigata University School of Dentistry, Japan.
Brain Research
|December 31, 1993
Abstract:
The activity of masseter motor units with different spike amplitudes was recorded and reflex responses by force stimulation of an incisor were analyzed in humans. The effects of reflex responses varied depending on the level of prestimulus firing frequency (background activity, BGA). When small amplitude motor units and large amplitude motor units were tested at the same level of BGA, the former tended to exhibit excitatory reflexes and the latter inhibitory ones.
Related Concept Videos
01:13Motor 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...
Motor units come in different sizes, with smaller units...
01:20Motor Unit Stimulation
When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...