Neural control in human muscle fatigue: changes in muscle afferents, motoneurones and motor cortical drive [corrected]

Acta Physiol Scand. 1998 Mar;162(3):275-83. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-201X.1998.0299f.x.

Abstract

To understand the neural factors which contribute to fatigue, it is not satisfactory to regard fatigue as occurring only when a task can no longer be performed. Changes in muscle afferent feedback, motoneuronal discharge, motor cortical output, and perceived effort develop well before an endurance limit in limb muscles. During sustained maximal contractions the discharge of motoneurones declines, commonly to below the level required to produce maximal force from the muscle whose contractile speed is usually slowed. Thus, some 'central' fatigue develops. Recent findings using transcranial stimulation have revealed that the motor cortex is one site at which suboptimal output develops during human muscle fatigue. There is a need to study the reflex effects on motoneurones and the excitability of the motor cortex in experimental animals, as well as to apply rigorous methods to assess these processes in voluntary exercise in human subjects [corrected].

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Motor Cortex / cytology
  • Motor Cortex / physiology*
  • Motor Neurons / physiology*
  • Muscle Fatigue / physiology*
  • Muscle Spindles / physiology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / innervation*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
  • Neurons, Afferent / physiology*