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Department of Physiology, University College, London, UK.

1. Surface EMGs were recorded from pairs of muscles involved in movements of the wrist and/or digits in the upper limb and from pairs of intrinsic foot muscles in the lower limb during voluntary isometric contractions. 2. EMGs were also recorded from lower limb and trunk muscles during three different tasks: lying, standing and balancing. 3. To investigate if the co-contraction of muscles was due to the presence of a common drive to each of the two motoneurone pools, cross-correlation analysis of the two multiunit EMG signals was used. 4. Evidence for a common drive was seen between pairs of muscles that share a common joint or joint complex (such as the metacarpophalangeal joints); no evidence was found for a common drive to co-contracting muscles that did not share a common joint. 5. When considering analogous hand and foot muscle pairs, the degree of synchrony was significantly greater for lower limb pairs. 6. Where a common drive was detected with lower limb muscle pairs, the degree of synchrony was significantly larger during balancing than during either lying or standing. 7. The origin of the common drive is discussed. It is concluded that activity in both last-order branched presynaptic fibers and presynaptic synchronization is involved.

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