Salmanpour A, Shoemaker JK. Baroreflex mechanisms regulating the occurrence of neural spikes in human muscle sympathetic nerve activity. J Neurophysiol 107: 3409 -3416, 2012. First published March 21, 2012 doi:10.1152/jn.00925.2011.-This study tested the hypothesis that the discharge patterns of action potentials (APs) within bursts of postganglionic muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) are subject to arterial baroreflex control but in a manner that varies inversely with AP size. MSNA data were collected over 5 min of supine rest in 15 young and healthy individuals (8 males; 24 Ϯ 4 yr of age; means Ϯ SD). The baroreflex threshold and sensitivity diagrams were constructed for both the integrated sympathetic bursts and for the AP clusters. For the integrated bursts, a strong linear relationship between burst probability and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was observed (P Ͻ 0.05). There was little relationship between integrated burst strength (amplitude) and DBP. On average, 12 AP clusters were observed across individuals. Larger APs tended to appear in the larger bursts. Linear regression analysis was used to study the baroreflex threshold (probability of AP cluster occurrence vs. DBP) as well as the baroreflex sensitivity (AP cluster size vs. DBP). A significant reflex threshold relationship was observed in 75-100% of AP clusters across all individuals. In contrast, significant reflex sensitivity relationships were observed in only 9 of 15 individuals and for limited APs. Overall, the slope of the AP baroreflex threshold relationship was greater for the small-medium sized AP clusters than that of the larger APs. Therefore, within each burst, the small-medium sized APs are governed by the baroreflex mechanism. However, the large APs, which tend to appear in the large integrated bursts, are weakly associated with a baroreflex control feature. The variable impact of baroreflex control over AP occurrence provides a plausible explanation for the overall weak baroreflex control over integrated burst strength, a feature that is determined by both the number and size of the AP complement. microneurography; spike detection and classification; firing probability THE RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES used by the central nervous system to coordinate the discharge patterns in postganglionic sympathetic outflow have been a focus of research since the multi unit discharge behavior was first observed in mammals almost a century ago (Adrian et al. 1932). The discharge of sympathetic outflow occurs as volleys of synchronized action potentials (APs). Even under conditions of supine rest, these volleys, or so-called "bursts," vary in discharge rate as well as in size. The variations in burst size are believed to be determined by spontaneous fluctuations in the number of axons being recruited per burst (Ninomya et al. 1993). Sundlof and Wallin (1978) demonstrated that such bursts in the muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) neurogram are synchronized to the cardiac cycle with an occurrence probability that is inversely related to blood ...