Motor unit firing intervals and other parameters of electrical activity in normal and pathological muscle

The analysis of the firing intervals of motor units has been suggested as a diagnostic tool in patients with neuromuscular disorders. Part of the increase in number of turns seen in patients with myopathy could be secondary to the decrease in motor unit firing intervals at threshold force of the motor units, as noted in previous studies. In the brachial biceps muscle we have studied the firing intervals of 164 motor units in 14 controls, 140 motor units in 13 patients with myopathy and 86 motor units in 8 patients with neurogenic disorders, and related the findings to those of the turns analysis and the analysis of properties of individual motor unit potentials. To ensure comparable conditions we have examined motor unit firing intervals and turns at a force of 10% of maximum. The average of motor unit firing intervals and of interval variability was the same in controls and in patients, and the diagnostic yield of the motor unit firing intervals analysis was none. Although the number of turns increased with decreasing motor unit firing intervals, this relation was physiological rather than pathophysiological. In patients with neurogenic disorders, interval variability indicated unstable firing in severely affected muscles.