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The “Size Principle” of Human α-Motoneurones

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Alpha and Gamma Motor Systems

Abstract

The recruitment order of mammalian a-motoneurones in a; motoneurone pool obeys the so-called size principle (Henneman, Somjen & Carpenter, 1965), i.e. small motoneurones are recruited before larger ones. The intrinsic basis for this behaviour is given by the fact that an excitatory input system (for example the Ia fibres) evokes large EPSPs in small and small EPSPs in large α-motoneurones. It has been proposed that this is a universal feature of all excitatory input systems to α-motoneurones (Lüscher & Clamann, 1992; but see Heckman & Binder, 1993).

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Awiszus, F., Feistner, H. (1995). The “Size Principle” of Human α-Motoneurones. In: Taylor, A., Gladden, M.H., Durbaba, R. (eds) Alpha and Gamma Motor Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1935-5_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1935-5_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5793-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1935-5

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