Long-Term Endurance and Power Training May Facilitate Motor Unit Size Expansion to Compensate for Declining Motor Unit Numbers in Older Age

Piasecki, M.; Ireland, A.; Piasecki, J.; Degens, H.; Stashuk, D. W.; Swiecicka, A.; Rutter, M. K.; Jones, D. A.; McPhee, J. S.

doi:10.3389/fphys.2019.00449

Motor unit dysregulation following 15 days of unilateral lower limb immobilisation (2022)
Journal Article
Inns, T. B., Bass, J. J., Hardy, E. J., Wilkinson, D. J., Stashuk, D. W., Atherton, P. J., …Piasecki, M. (2022). Motor unit dysregulation following 15 days of unilateral lower limb immobilisation. Journal of Physiology, 600(21), 4753-4769. https://doi.org/10.1113/jp283425

Abstract: Disuse atrophy, caused by situations of unloading such as limb immobilisation, causes a rapid yet diverging reduction in skeletal muscle function when compared to muscle mass. While mechanistic insight into the loss of mass is well studied,... Read More about Motor unit dysregulation following 15 days of unilateral lower limb immobilisation.

Training-induced improvements in knee extensor force accuracy are associated with reduced vastus lateralis motor unit firing variability (2022)
Journal Article
Ely, I. A., Jones, E. J., Inns, T. B., Dooley, S., Miller, S. B. J., Stashuk, D. W., …Piasecki, M. (2022). Training-induced improvements in knee extensor force accuracy are associated with reduced vastus lateralis motor unit firing variability. Experimental Physiology, https://doi.org/10.1113/EP090367

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? Can bilateral knee extensor force accuracy be improved following 4 weeks of unilateral force accuracy training and are there any subsequent alterations to central and/or peripheral motor unit... Read More about Training-induced improvements in knee extensor force accuracy are associated with reduced vastus lateralis motor unit firing variability.

Ageing and exercise-induced motor unit remodelling (2022)
Journal Article
Jones, E. J., Chiou, S. Y., Atherton, P. J., Phillips, B. E., & Piasecki, M. (2022). Ageing and exercise-induced motor unit remodelling. Journal of Physiology, 600(8), 1839-1849. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP281726

A motor unit (MU) comprises the neuron cell body, its corresponding axon and each of the muscle fibres it innervates. Many studies highlight age-related reductions in the number of MUs, yet the ability of a MU to undergo remodelling and to expand to... Read More about Ageing and exercise-induced motor unit remodelling.

Neuromuscular recruitment strategies of the vastus lateralis according to sex (2022)
Journal Article
Guo, Y., Jones, E. J., Inns, T. B., Ely, I. A., Stashuk, D. W., Wilkinson, D. J., …Piasecki, M. (2022). Neuromuscular recruitment strategies of the vastus lateralis according to sex. Acta Physiologica, 235(2), Article e13803. https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.13803

Aim: Despite males typically exhibiting greater muscle strength and fatigability than females, it remains unclear if there are sex-based differences in neuromuscular recruitment strategies e.g. recruitment and modulation of motor unit firing rate (MU... Read More about Neuromuscular recruitment strategies of the vastus lateralis according to sex.

Circulating testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone are associated with individual motor unit features in untrained and highly active older men (2021)
Journal Article
Guo, Y., Piasecki, J., Swiecicka, A., Ireland, A., Phillips, B. E., Atherton, P. J., …Piasecki, M. (2022). Circulating testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone are associated with individual motor unit features in untrained and highly active older men. GeroScience, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00482-3

Long-term exercise training has been considered as an effective strategy to counteract age-related hormonal declines and minimise muscle atrophy. However, human data relating circulating hormone levels with motor nerve function are scant. The aims of... Read More about Circulating testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone are associated with individual motor unit features in untrained and highly active older men.

Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (2021)
Journal Article
Ellwood, R. A., Piasecki, M., & Szewczyk, N. J. (2021). Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(9), Article 4891. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22094891

The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans has been used extensively to enhance our understanding of the human neuromuscular disorder Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). With new arising clinically relevant models, technologies and treatments, there is... Read More about Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Atrophy Resistant vs. Atrophy Susceptible skeletal muscles: “aRaS” as a novel experimental paradigm to study the mechanisms of human disuse atrophy (2021)
Journal Article
Hardy, E., Inns, T., Wilkinson, D., Piasecki, M., Atherton, P., Phillips, B., …Smith, K. (2021). Atrophy Resistant vs. Atrophy Susceptible skeletal muscles: “aRaS” as a novel experimental paradigm to study the mechanisms of human disuse atrophy. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 653060. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.653060

Objective: Disuse atrophy (DA) describes inactivity-induced skeletal muscle loss, through incompletely defined mechanisms. An intriguing observation is that individual muscles exhibit differing degrees of atrophy, despite exhibiting similar anatomica... Read More about Atrophy Resistant vs. Atrophy Susceptible skeletal muscles: “aRaS” as a novel experimental paradigm to study the mechanisms of human disuse atrophy.

Lifelong exercise is associated with more homogeneous motor unit potential features across deep and superficial areas of vastus lateralis (2021)
Journal Article
Jones, E. J., Piasecki, J., Ireland, A., Stashuk, D. W., Atherton, P. J., Phillips, B. E., …Piasecki, M. (2021). Lifelong exercise is associated with more homogeneous motor unit potential features across deep and superficial areas of vastus lateralis. GeroScience, 43(4), 1555-1565. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00356-8

Motor unit (MU) expansion enables rescue of denervated muscle fibres helping to ameliorate age-relatedmuscle atrophy, with evidence to suggest master athletes are more successful at this remodelling. Electrophysiological data has suggested MUs locate... Read More about Lifelong exercise is associated with more homogeneous motor unit potential features across deep and superficial areas of vastus lateralis.

Near-Fiber Electromyography (2021)
Journal Article
Piasecki, M., Garnés-Camarena, O., & Stashuk, D. W. (2021). Near-Fiber Electromyography. Clinical Neurophysiology, 132(5), 1089-1104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2021.02.008

Objective Describe and evaluate the concepts of near fiber electromyography (NFEMG), the features used, including near fiber motor unit potential (NFMUP) duration and dispersion, which relate to motor unit distal axonal branch and muscle fiber con... Read More about Near-Fiber Electromyography.

Factors associated with electrical stimulation‐induced performance fatigability are dependent upon stimulation location (2021)
Journal Article
Inns, T. B., McCormick, D., Greig, C. A., Atherton, P. J., Phillips, B. E., & Piasecki, M. (2021). Factors associated with electrical stimulation‐induced performance fatigability are dependent upon stimulation location. Experimental Physiology, 106(4), 828-836. https://doi.org/10.1113/ep089204

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is increasingly viewed as a central tenet to minimise muscle loss during periods of disuse/illness – typically applied directly over a muscle belly. Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is afforded less atten... Read More about Factors associated with electrical stimulation‐induced performance fatigability are dependent upon stimulation location.

Mitochondrial hydrogen sulfide supplementation improves health in the C. elegans Duchenne muscular dystrophy model (2021)
Journal Article
Ellwood, R. A., Hewitt, J. E., Torregrossa, R., Philp, A. M., Hardee, J. P., Hughes, S., …Szewczyk, N. J. (2021). Mitochondrial hydrogen sulfide supplementation improves health in the C. elegans Duchenne muscular dystrophy model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(9), Article e2018342118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018342118

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness due to mutations in the dystrophin gene. The symptoms of DMD share similarities with those of accelerated aging. Recentl... Read More about Mitochondrial hydrogen sulfide supplementation improves health in the C. elegans Duchenne muscular dystrophy model.

Molecular and neural adaptations to neuromuscular electrical stimulation; Implications for ageing muscle (2020)
Journal Article
Guo, Y., Phillips, B. E., Atherton, P. J., & Piasecki, M. (2021). Molecular and neural adaptations to neuromuscular electrical stimulation; Implications for ageing muscle. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 193, Article 111402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2020.111402

One of the most notable effects of ageing is an accelerated decline of skeletal muscle mass and function, resulting in various undesirable outcomes such as falls, frailty, and all-cause mortality. The loss of muscle mass directly leads to functional... Read More about Molecular and neural adaptations to neuromuscular electrical stimulation; Implications for ageing muscle.

Influence of sex on the age‐related adaptations of neuromuscular function and motor unit properties in elite masters athletes (2020)
Journal Article
Piasecki, J., Inns, T. B., Bass, J. J., Scott, R., Stashuk, D. W., Phillips, B. E., …Piasecki, M. (2021). Influence of sex on the age‐related adaptations of neuromuscular function and motor unit properties in elite masters athletes. Journal of Physiology, 599(1), 193-205. https://doi.org/10.1113/jp280679

Motor unit (MU) remodelling acts to minimise loss of muscle fibres following denervation in older age, which may be more successful in masters athletes. Evidence suggests performance and neuromuscular function decline with age in this population, alt... Read More about Influence of sex on the age‐related adaptations of neuromuscular function and motor unit properties in elite masters athletes.

Absence of an ageing‐related increase in fibre type grouping in athletes and non‐athletes (2020)
Journal Article
Messa, G. A., Piasecki, M., Rittweger, J., McPhee, J. S., Koltai, E., Radak, Z., …Degens, H. (2020). Absence of an ageing‐related increase in fibre type grouping in athletes and non‐athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 30(11), 2057-2069. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13778

The ageing‐related loss of muscle mass is thought to be partly attributable to motor neuron loss and motor unit remodelling that result in fibre type grouping. We examined fibre type grouping in 19‐ to 85‐year‐old athletes and non‐athletes and evalua... Read More about Absence of an ageing‐related increase in fibre type grouping in athletes and non‐athletes.

Targeted genotype analyses of GWAS-derived lean body mass and handgrip strength-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms in elite masters athletes (2020)
Journal Article
Crossland, H., Piasecki, J., McCormick, D., Phillips, B. E., Wilkinson, D. J., Smith, K., …Atherton, P. J. (2020). Targeted genotype analyses of GWAS-derived lean body mass and handgrip strength-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms in elite masters athletes. AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 319(2), R184-R194. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00110.2020

Recent large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have independently identified a set of genetic loci associated with lean body mass (LBM) and handgrip strength (HGS). Evaluation of these candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may be usef... Read More about Targeted genotype analyses of GWAS-derived lean body mass and handgrip strength-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms in elite masters athletes.

The impact of a high-fat diet in mice is dependent on duration and age, and differs between muscles (2020)
Journal Article
Messa, G. A. M., Piasecki, M., Hurst, J., Hill, C., Tallis, J., & Degens, H. (2020). The impact of a high-fat diet in mice is dependent on duration and age, and differs between muscles. Journal of Experimental Biology, 223(6), Article jeb.217117. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.217117

© 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. Prolonged high-fat diets (HFDs) can cause intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) accumulation that may negatively affect muscle function. We investigated the duration of a HFD required to instigate these cha... Read More about The impact of a high-fat diet in mice is dependent on duration and age, and differs between muscles.

Comparison of Muscle Function, Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition of Early Starting and Later Starting Older Masters Athletes (2019)
Journal Article
Piasecki, J., Ireland, A., Piasecki, M., Deere, K., Hannam, K., Tobias, J., & McPhee, J. S. (2019). Comparison of Muscle Function, Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition of Early Starting and Later Starting Older Masters Athletes. Frontiers in Physiology, 10, Article 1050. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.01050

© 2019 Piasecki, Ireland, Piasecki, Deere, Hannam, Tobias and McPhee. Masters endurance runners can epitomize healthy aging; being reflective of the physiological processes of aging without the compounded effects of inactivity. The primary aim of the... Read More about Comparison of Muscle Function, Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition of Early Starting and Later Starting Older Masters Athletes.

Morphological alterations of mouse skeletal muscles during early ageing are muscle specific (2019)
Journal Article
Messa, G., Piasecki, M., Hill, C., McPhee, J., Tallis, J., & Degens, H. (2019). Morphological alterations of mouse skeletal muscles during early ageing are muscle specific. Experimental Gerontology, 125, Article 110684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2019.110684

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. One of the hallmarks of ageing is muscle wasting that may be preceded by morphological changes, such as capillary rarefaction. Muscle-specific changes in morphology in early ageing may differ between locomotor and respiratory mus... Read More about Morphological alterations of mouse skeletal muscles during early ageing are muscle specific.

Frailty phenotype and frailty index are associated with distinct neuromuscular electrophysiological characteristics in men (2019)
Journal Article
Swiecicka, A., Piasecki, M., Stashuk, D. W., Ireland, A., Jones, D. A., Rutter, M. K., & McPhee, J. S. (2019). Frailty phenotype and frailty index are associated with distinct neuromuscular electrophysiological characteristics in men. Experimental Physiology, 104(8), 1154-1161. https://doi.org/10.1113/ep087579

Long-Term Endurance and Power Training May Facilitate Motor Unit Size Expansion to Compensate for Declining Motor Unit Numbers in Older Age (2019)
Journal Article
Piasecki, M., Ireland, A., Piasecki, J., Degens, H., Stashuk, D. W., Swiecicka, A., …McPhee, J. S. (2019). Long-Term Endurance and Power Training May Facilitate Motor Unit Size Expansion to Compensate for Declining Motor Unit Numbers in Older Age. Frontiers in Physiology, 10, Article 449. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.00449

© 2019 Frontiers Media S.A. All Rights Reserved. The evidence concerning the effects of exercise in older age on motor unit (MU) numbers, muscle fiber denervation and reinnervation cycles is inconclusive and it remains unknown whether any effects are... Read More about Long-Term Endurance and Power Training May Facilitate Motor Unit Size Expansion to Compensate for Declining Motor Unit Numbers in Older Age.

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