Simulations of the alpha motoneuron pool electromyogram reflex at different preactivation levels in man

Abstract

The alpha motoneuron pool and the surface electromyogram (EMG) of the human soleus muscle are modelled, respectively, by an alpha motoneuron pool model generating the firing patterns in the motor units of the muscle and by a muscle model using these discharge patterns to simulate the surface EMG. In the alpha motoneuron pool model, we use a population of motoneurons in which cellular properties like cell size and membrane conductance are distributed according to experimentally observed data. By calculating the contribution from each motor unit, the muscle model predicts the EMG. Wave forms of the motor unit action potentials in the surface EMG are obtained from experimental data. Using the model, we are able to give a quantitative prediction of the motoneuron pool activity and the reflex EMG output at different preactivation levels. The simulated data are consistent with experimentally obtained results in healthy humans. During static isometric muscle preactivations, the simulations show that the reflex strength is highly dependent on the intrinsic threshold properties of the alpha motoneuron pool.