A study of the muscle force waveform using a population stochastic model of skeletal muscle.

A population stochastic model based on the differing properties and the independent activation of motor units is used to describe the production of force in the contracting skeletal muscle. Detailed force predictions of the model concerning a hand muscle are obtained by computer simulation. General features of the force signal are established analytically on the basis of the general properties of the neuromuscular system which the population model takes into account. The results show that the asynchronous activity of motor units and the distribution of their filtering and firing properties at various levels of muscle contraction are responsible, at least partially, for the main features of the muscle force waveform, including tremor.