The influence of changes in the stimulation pattern on force and fusion in motor units of the rat medial gastrocnemius muscle

The effects of irregularity in the pattern of stimulation on the tension produced by motor units in the rat medial gastrocnemius muscle were investigated. The effects of decreasing as well as increasing the interpulse intervals were observed for each motor unit in tetani fused to different degrees. For each motor-unit type, it was found that the effects of these changes depended on the extent of tetanic fusion. Decreasing the interpulse interval produced an increase in tension during the tetanus: the more fused the profile of tetanus, the smaller the tension increase. Increasing the interpulse interval resulted in a decrease in tetanic tension. This effect was most prominent when the tetanic fusion index was approximately 0.75. This phenomenon resulted from the prolongation in relaxation when tetanic fusion increased, thereby preventing a decrease in tension when the interpulse interval increased. We also investigated the effects of introducing a short interpulse interval (”doublet”) at the beginning of the stimulation. The doublets produced increased tetanic tension with a more fused profile. However, the doublet enhanced the sensitivity of the tetanus to increases in interpulse interval and decreased its sensitivity to decreases in interpulse intervals. Slow-twitch motor units appeared to be significantly less sensitive to both increases and decreases in interpulse interval than fast-twitch units. This suggests that slow-twitch units are better suited for producing long-lasting contractions with a constant tension level. Conversely, the high sensibility of fast-twitch units to changes in stimulation frequency enhances their participation in regulation of tension of the muscular contraction.