An augmented computer model of motor unit reorganization in neurogenic diseases of skeletal muscle

Abstract

A computer model of denervation and complete reinnervation in skeletal muscle was originally developed for the purpose of furthering an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of motor unit reorganization in neurogenic diseases. We now describe its successor, a computer model for investigating different rates of denervation and reinnervation, as well as incomplete reinnervation. The new model introduces the concept of permanent denervation and features enhanced interactive control over the distribution of motor unit centers and additional measures of dispersion and co-dispersion of muscle fibers. The use of this model for investigating pathophysiologically significant issues in denervating diseases is illustrated with five different sets of parameters. These simulate some of the processes that may be operational in chronic spinal muscular atrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and progressive postpolio muscular dystrophy. The enhanced model will allow in-depth analysis of the influence of hypothesized pathophysiological processes on clinical, electrophysiological and pathological outcomes in human disease.

Simulating progressive motor neuron degeneration and collateral reinnervation in motor neuron diseases using a dynamic muscle model based on human single motor unit recordings

“…Computational models provide unique opportunities to systematically investigate the effect of individual factors on real-world recordings, in a more isolated and detailed manner. This has been previously acknowledged by simulating progressive motor neuron degeneration, predominantly to study pathology at the muscle fiber level to provide an understanding of the key factors underlying fiber type grouping in histochemical examinations [52][53][54][55] and/or needle EMG examinations [31,32]. In this study, we took a more macroscopic approach with surface-EMG recorded single MUPs as the basic building blocks to create a link with CMAP examinations.…”