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An investigation was made of the reflex responses evoked in the human masseter by periodontal mechanoreceptors. Weak taps were applied to the labial surface of a central incisor tooth by an electromechanical stimulator with a flexible probe (von Frey hair). Forces as low as 0.2 N evoked inhibitory reflex responses in the surface electromyograms of both masseter muscles. These reflexes were modulated to markedly different extents in different subjects by auditory white noise, which always reduced the amplitude of the inhibition. The reflexes were abolished when local anaesthesia was infiltrated around the stimulated tooth and white noise was played into the ears. Evidence is presented that the sound of the tap on the tooth, transmitted through the air, is in itself sufficient to evoke an inhibitory reflex in masseter which is qualitatively similar to that from the periodontal receptors. Thus, in the absence of auditory masking, the total reflex evoked by tooth taps is the result of the summation of the inputs from both periodontal mechanoreceptors and auditory receptors.

The reflex responses evoked by controlled mechanical stimulation of an upper central incisor tooth in single motor units in the human masseter muscle were examined. The stimuli were (brisk) taps and (slow) pushes of about 2 N peak force, applied orthogonally to the labial surface of the ipsilateral upper central incisor tooth. The reflex responses of the motor units were characterised by analysis of the changes in the durations of the first and second interspike intervals (ISIs) immediately following the stimulus. A significant increase in the duration of these ISIs in comparison with pre-stimulus ISIs indicated inhibition, and significant shortening indicated excitation. Twenty masseter motor units were tested with both the pushes and the taps. The brisk taps elicited a significant reflex inhibition in 16 of the 20 motor units at a latency of 13 ms and duration of 37 ms. This inhibition was followed by significant excitation in 11 of the 20 units at latencies of 71 ms, lasting for 29 ms. The short-latency response to slow pushes was significant inhibition in four units: significant excitation in one unit and no response in 15 units. The slow pushes evoked a significant long-latency excitatory reflex response in 12 of the 20 units at latencies of 77 ms and lasting for 40 ms. The shapes and amplitudes of the compound post-synaptic potentials underlying the reflex responses in the motoneurones were estimated. It is concluded that stimulation of periodontal mechanoreceptors usually activates an excitatory reflex pathway to the jaw-closing motoneurones. This probably helps to grip the food bolus between the teeth during chewing. However, when the rate of application of the stimulus is large enough, a short-latency inhibitory response is evoked which, if of sufficient duration, may over-ride the subsequent excitatory response. Inhibition of the jaw-closing muscles will tend to protect the teeth and soft tissues when one bites unexpectedly on a hard object while chewing.

1. The reflex responses evoked in the human masseter muscle by controlled mechanical stimulation of an incisor tooth were examined electromyographically. The stimuli were (slow) pushes and (brisk) taps of about 0.5-3 N peak force, applied orthogonally to the labial surface. 2. The brisk taps elicited a short-latency inhibitory reflex that was often followed by an excitatory peak, as has been described earlier. The inhibition increased as the taps became stronger. 3. Slow pushes evoked a long-latency, primarily excitatory response. The excitation increased with stronger, faster rise-time pushes; however, with the stronger stimuli, the short-latency inhibitory response often became evident before the onset of the excitation. 4. The reflex responses to 3 N pushes and 2 N taps were abolished when the receptors around the tooth were blocked with local anaesthetic, indicating that the response was elicited from receptors located within the periodontal area. 5. Prolonged, rapid-onset displacements evoked a complex reflex response that combined the characteristics of the taps and the pushes. 6. The most likely explanation for the different responses evoked by the pushes and taps is that the patterns of afferent activity elicited by the slow and fast tooth displacements activated different interneuronal pathways to motoneurones. 7. The inhibitory response to taps is essentially a protective reflex which probably serves to reduce the activity of the jaw-closing muscles when one bites unexpectedly on hard objects. It is suggested that the excitatory response may contribute to the muscle activity required to hold food between the teeth during chewing, or may act as a load compensation reflex to control chewing force.

The relationship between the averaged surface electromyogram (EMG) and the activity of motoneurones in reflex studies is analysed mathematically. This analysis reveals that, subject to certain conditions being met, the integral of the average of the unrectified EMG is linearly related to the activity of motor units in the muscle. This was tested with experimental data. The activity of 2 motor units, and the surface EMG, were recorded directly in a reflex paradigm. A close match was found between the integral of the average of the unrectified EMG and the summed peristimulus time histograms (PSTHs) of the units' activity. This analysis gives more quantitative measurements of the timing of motoneuronal activity in reflexes than the conventional analysis of the EMG. It also offers the potential for making quantitative measurements of changes in motor unit activity evoked by different stimuli. This analysis avoids the pitfall of the artefactual peaks that can occur in the average of the rectified EMG as a consequence of the full-wave rectification. It is concluded that the integral of the unrectified average offers a valuable adjunct to the conventional analysis in many reflex studies. The analysis can also be applied to quantitative studies of neurograms.

The extent of contamination of the whole muscle surface electromyogram (SEMG) was studied using the classical H-reflex preparation of the human leg. SEMG and single motor unit activity were recorded from the soleus and the anterior tibial muscles in response to a low intensity stimulation of the tibial nerve at the popliteal fossa. The SEMGs of individual motor units were established to compare with the whole muscle SEMG in order to determine the presence of the cross-talk. It was shown that the whole muscle SEMG can be contaminated by the activity from the antagonists especially at high stimulation intensities.

The reflex responses of single motor units in human masseter muscle to electrical stimulation of the lip were recorded. The subject maintained a content mean level of pre-stimulus excitation of the parent motor neurone by biting in such a way that the unit fired at either 10 or 15 Hz during each trial. When firing at 10 Hz, most units were reflexly inhibited for up to 90 ms by electrical stimuli at intensities that were perceived to be mildly uncomfortable. In many units, the inhibition consisted of 2 phases which were separated from each other by a few spikes occurring about 30 ms after the stimulus. It was occasionally possible to evoke only the latter phase (latency about 40 ms) with stimulus at intensities near the response threshold. In these instances, the inhibitory response became biphasic at higher stimulus intensities with the emergence of a shorter (10-15 ms) component. Still higher intensities caused the 2 phases of inhibition to merge, giving the appearance of a single, prolonged, inhibitory response. When the pre-stimulus firing frequency of the unit was changed from 10 Hz to 15 Hz, the inhibitory responses to the same stimuli were decreased, with the longer-latency component usually surviving beyond the shorter-latency phase. The pattern of reflex responses observed can be explained by a model based on information derived from intracellular recordings in animal experiments.

1. Electromyography (surface and intramuscular) has been used to study the reflex responses of the human flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) to angular rotation of the distal interphalangeal joint of the 4th finger. This has been done with the hand in three separate positions which, owing to the arrangement of the various tendons, allow the movement to be transmitted to (a) both the flexor and extensor muscles, (b) FDP alone (extensors disengaged) and (c) neither flexor nor extensor muscles (all muscles disengaged, but cutaneous and joint receptors still potentially activated). The stimuli were applied while the subject was voluntarily contracting FDP to produce a constant level of EMG activity; this remained possible when the muscle was disengaged from the joint. 2. With all muscles connected, FDP behaved similarly to the analogous long flexor of the thumb. 'Stretch' elicited a prolonged complex response starting with a short-latency component corresponding to the tendon jerk. Unloading of the contracting muscle caused a pronounced reduction of its on-going EMG activity. The latency of this latter effect was approximately 20 ms greater than that of the initial stretch-evoked response, thereby demonstrating that it was not due to a disfacilitation via the short-latency pathway (on reduction of the tonic spindle afferent firing from FDP as it shortened). 3. With all muscles disengaged, movement of the joint in either direction evoked simply a weak, variable excitatory response, with a latency somewhat greater than that of the normal unloading response. This was attributed to the activation of cutaneous and/or joint receptors. The effectiveness of the disengagement of the flexor was demonstrated by the abolition of its normal stretch-evoked short-latency response. 4. With the flexor engaged and the extensors disengaged both stretch and release evoked their normal types of response. In control experiments, surface EMG recordings from the interosseus muscles confirmed that the procedure used for extensor disconnection was effective. These findings exclude the possibility that the reduction of EMG activity of the unloading response of FDP might be attributable to an inhibition evoked by the concomitant stretch of its antagonists. 5. The long-latency unloading response (whether with the extensors engaged or disengaged) remained when the sensory receptors in the finger itself were inactivated, confirming that these were not responsible.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The inhibitory reflex evoked in single units in human masseter by lip stimulation was recorded at several joint angles. The pre-stimulus firing frequency of the unit was kept constant. Some modulation of the inhibitory response at different vertical jaw positions (i.e. temporomandibular joint angle) was observed in most masseter units, with the majority of the modulated units being inhibited less when the teeth were closer together.

The inhibitory reflex response evoked by mildly noxious lip stimulation was tested in up to 100 trials at two different levels of pre-stimulus excitation. To regulate that excitation, the subject voluntarily controlled the firing rate of one motor neurone at 10 Hz, and then at 15 Hz while the reflex was tested. When the frequency of the motor-unit action potential (MUAP) in the controlled unit increased or decreased, the frequency of other active units' MUAPs also changed in parallel: that is, the frequency of one MUAP was an index of whole muscle excitation. The inhibitory response in the surface electromyogram (EMG) was quantitated by rectifying and averaging the signal, and by measuring its depth and area. The best correlation between the responses evoked in single units and the response in the whole muscle EMG at the two levels of excitation was obtained when the area of inhibition in the surface record was normalized to the pre-stimulus EMG level. The inhibitory response to lip stimulation in the masseter EMG decreased when the level of pre-stimulus excitation in the muscle was increased. This was confirmed using the reflex response in the averaged force data. The findings suggest that controlling one motor unit's firing rate is a useful method for controlling the whole-muscle excitation in quantitative reflex studies.

1. The effects of vascular infusions of acetylcholine, angiotensin II, noradrenaline and prostaglandin F2 alpha on the baroreceptor reflex were studied in the anaesthetized greyhound. 2. Vertebral artery infusions of low doses of angiotensin II, but not of acetylcholine or prostaglandin F2 alpha, resulted in a significant reduction in the depressor response to carotid sinus nerve stimulation. 3. The increases in blood pressure and heart rate in response to bilateral carotid artery occlusion were not significantly changes during vertebral artery infusions of acetylcholine, angiotensin II or prostaglandin F2 alpha. 4. The increases in blood pressure in response to intravenous infusions of noradrenaline were significantly enhanced during vertebral artery infusions of acetylcholine and angiotensin II, but not of prostaglandin F2 alpha. The bradycardia during noradrenaline infusions was significantly enhanced by angiotensin II alone. 5. The depressor response to carotid sinus nerve stimulation was significantly reduced during intravenous infusions of both noradrenaline and angiotensin II. 6. It is considered that although angiotensin II can be shown to have a specific central action to attenuate the response to carotid sinus nerve stimulation, the role of this action in the complete baroreceptor reflex is unproven.

The existence of branching of myelinated dorsal root axons has been shown with electrophysiological techniques. The point at which the axons branch is several mm proximal to the ganglion. This observation may be relevant to the interpretation of studies which use spike-triggered averaging to investigate the pattern and the extent of the distribution of sensory information from primary afferent fibers to second-order neurons.

The changes in masseter EMG and biting force evoked by electrical stimulation of the lip were measured in normal people. Stimulation at noxious intensities elicited a characteristic, biphasic inhibitory response in the masseter EMG and a transient reduction in the biting force. The pattern of masseter inhibition and force change varied both with stimulus intensity and with inter-incisal separation. In general, the decrease in biting force was greater at intermediate jaw positions than in the open and closed positions. The duration of the EMG inhibitory period increased as the stimulus intensity increased but was independent of the jaw separation. Reflex thresholds could not be correlated with pain thresholds because subjects found it difficult to decide at what level an electrical stimulus became painful. Nevertheless this stimulation of high-threshold afferents may be useful in estimating the rate of relaxation of tension in the jaw muscles.

The activity of up to 4 motor units was recorded simultaneously with electrodes placed in the masseter muscle in human subjects. Mildly noxious electrical shocks were applied to the ipsilateral lip while one of the units was kept firing at a steady frequency by voluntary control. The pattern of reflex responses of each of the units was determined, and spike-triggered averaging was used to measure the potential that each action potential contributed to the rectified surface electromyogramme (EMG). Finally, the average contribution made to the surface EMG by each unit throughout the whole course of the reflex was determined. The contribution of each unit to the reflex response in the surface EMG was found to depend on its firing frequency throughout the course of the response, and on its amplitude measured at the surface. The timing of the various phases of inhibition and activation of different units depended on their pre-stimulus firing frequency. In a given bite, the lowest-threshold units were more likely to be firing most rapidly, and these were least susceptible to the inhibitory stimulus. Higher-threshold units tended to produce larger potentials at the muscle surface but, because they fired more slowly in a given bite, they were more powerfully inhibited by the stimulus. Most units showed the same general pattern of inhibitory and excitatory activity that can be seen in the surface EMG. However, the timing of these various phases in the surface EMG did not necessarily correspond with the timing of inhibition and activation in the records of individual units.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The "size principle" is known to dictate the sequence of recruitment of motor neurons during voluntary or reflex activation of muscles. The present study sought to determine whether the size principle also determined the sequence of reflexly-elicited inhibition of motor neurones. It was found that all masseter motor units were about equally inhibited by a mildly-noxious stimulus to the lip, providing that they were tested at the same level of pre-stimulus excitability, i.e., firing frequency. At higher prestimulus firing frequencies, more intense stimuli were required to inhibit motor unit activity. Thus it is the firing frequency of individual motor neurons, rather than their size, which determines their susceptibility to inhibition.