Comparison of contractile responses of single human motor units in the toe extensors during unloaded and loaded isotonic and isometric conditions.

Much of the repertoire of muscle function performed in everyday life involves isotonic dynamic movements, either with or without an additional load, yet most studies of single motor units measure isometric forces. To assess the effects of muscle load on the contractile response, we measured the contractile properties of single motor units supplying the toe extensors, assessed by intraneural microstimulation of single human motor axons, in isotonic, loaded isotonic, and isometric conditions. Tungsten microelectrodes were inserted into the common peroneal nerve, and single motor axons (n = 10) supplying the long toe extensors were electrically stimulated through the microelectrode. Displacement was measured from the distal phalanx of the toe with either an angular displacement transducer for the unloaded (i.e., no additional load) and loaded (addition of a 4-g mass) isotonic conditions or a force transducer for the isometric conditions. Mean twitch profiles were measured at 1 Hz for all conditions: rise time, fall time, and duration were shortest for the unloaded isotonic conditions and longest for the isometric conditions. Peak displacements were lower in the loaded than unloaded isotonic conditions, and the half-maximal response in the loaded condition was achieved at lower frequencies than in the unloaded isotonic condition. We have shown that the contractile responses of single motor units supplying the human toe extensors are influenced by how they are measured: twitches are much slower when measured in loaded than unloaded isotonic conditions and slowest when measured in isometric conditions.