Characteristics of Tetanic Force Produced by the Sternomastoid Muscle of the Rat

Figure 7

A representative example in an individual rat to show the relation between muscle force and stimulation frequency at two levels of stimulation current. The passive tension was at a moderate level (0.08 N). The nerve stimulation current was 0.1 mA (continuous line) or 0.075 mA (dashed line). Muscle force is higher for a bigger current but otherwise both curves share similar characteristics with a slight decline of force for the highest frequency of stimulation.