Does the onset of dynamic exercise produce mass sympathetic discharge, and how do central command and muscle chemoreflexes affect sympathetic and parasympathetic responses in healthy humans?
This physiological study demonstrates that the onset of dynamic exercise does not produce uniform mass sympathetic discharge, and that muscle chemoreflexes and central command differentially control sympathetic and parasympathetic responses.
We used microelectrode recordings of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) from the peroneal nerve in the leg during arm exercise in conscious humans to test the concept that central command and muscle afferent reflexes produce mass sympathetic discharge at the onset of exercise. Nonischemic rhythmic handgrip and mild arm cycling produced graded increases in heart rate and arterial pressure but did not increase MSNA, whereas ischemic handgrip and moderate arm cycling dramatically increased MSNA. There was a slow onset and offset of the MSNA responses, which suggested metaboreceptor mediation. When forearm ischemia was continued after ischemic handgrip, MSNA remained elevated (muscle chemoreflex stimulation) but heart rate returned to control (elimination of central command). The major new conclusions are that: the onset of dynamic exercise does not produce mass, uniform sympathetic discharge in humans, and muscle chemoreflexes and central command appear to produce differential effects on sympathetic and parasympathetic responses.
Victor et al. (1987) studied this question.
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