Doublet potentiation during eccentric and concentric contractions of cat soleus muscle

The addition of an extra stimulus pulse, or doublet, at the beginning of a low-frequency train has been shown to substantially increase isometric force. This study examined the effects of muscle movement on this doublet potentiation. The soleus muscles of anesthetized cats were stimulated at 10 Hz for 1 s, with and without an added doublet (0.01-s interval). Isovelocity releases reduced but did not eliminate peak and early doublet potentiation (average 0.0-0.5 s after the doublet). Large releases, >0.4 s after the doublet, completely abolished sustained doublet potentiation (average 0.5-1.0 s after the doublet). In contrast, early isovelocity stretches boosted peak doublet potentiation. Yet, large stretches later in the stimulus almost completely eliminated sustained doublet potentiation. This suggests that a different mechanism is responsible for early and sustained doublet potentiations. Because peak and average initial doublet potentiation were not strongly affected by movement, doublets still offer a viable control strategy to increase force during movement while minimizing the number of stimulus pulses.