Mammalian motor units: physiological-histochemical correlation in three types in cat gastrocnemius.

The correlation among a variety of physiological properties and the histochemical characteristics of muscle fibers belonging to single motor units in a mixed mammalian muscle is directly demonstrated. The population of motor units making up the cat gastrocnemius was classified into three nonoverlapping groups on the basis of a combination of physiological parameters. The muscle fibers belonging to motor units of each physiological type exhibited a distinctive histochemical profile, such that the three basic histochemical "fiber types" exactly matched the three physiologically defined groups. Within each individual motor unit, the muscle fibers were histochemically uniform.