Depression of Renshaw recurrent inhibition by activation of corticospinal fibres in human upper and lower limb.

1. This study tested whether the recurrent inhibition of soleus and wrist flexor motoneurones could be modified by transcranial magnetic stimulation in human subjects. 2. Magnetic stimulation was given through a circular coil centred at the vertex. The intensity of the magnetic stimulus was subthreshold for evoking a motor response in the active soleus and wrist flexor muscles. The recurrent inhibition brought about by a conditioning H1 reflex discharge was estimated by a test H' reflex. The modifications of the recurrent inhibition after cortical stimulation were distinguished from the motoneuronal changes by comparing H' to a reference H reflex. 3. In the soleus motoneurones, the reference H reflex was inhibited at a minimum conditioning-test interval of -2 ms (H reflex stimulus before magnetic stimulation). In contrast, the H' reflex was facilitated at minimum conditioning-test intervals of +1 ms. In the wrist flexor motoneurones, both H' and reference H reflexes were facilitated. However, at lower cortical stimulus intensities, only the H' reflex was facilitated at minimum conditioning-test intervals of +1 ms. 4. In both motoneurone pools, H' facilitation started 3-4 ms later than the earliest changes in the reference H reflex. Also, the threshold of H' facilitation was lower than that of reference H reflex. 5. It is concluded that facilitation of the H' reflex is produced by corticospinal inhibition of Renshaw cells via a short interneuronal chain in both the upper and lower limb.