Table 1.

Amplitude, duration, latency (Δt^m/height) of soleus compound actionpotential(M^max) and plantar-flexor peak twitch torque(Pt_m),contraction time (CT),half-relaxation time (HRT) and mean rate of tension development (Pt/CT)

	Young	Elderly	P
Mmax amplitude (mV)	9.29 ± 1.49	3.97 ± 1.27***	0.001
Mmax duration (ms)	2.57 ± 0.46	3.63 ± 0.86**	0.010
Δtm/height (ms cm−1)	0.038 ± 0.016	0.039 ± 0.005	0.450
PtM (N m)	17.66 ± 5.08	9.08 ± 1.87***	0.001
CT (ms)	139.33 ± 17.32	145.00 ± 15.09	0.242
HRT (ms)	109.96 ± 18.35	109.47 ± 18.25	0.478
Pt/CT (N m ms−1)	0.127 ± 0.034	0.063 ± 0.014***	0.001

Data are means ±s.d.; n for young = 10, n for elderly = 9.

^**P < 0.01

^***P < 0.001, young vs. elderly.