SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION OF MUSCLE-FIBERS

The analysis of Gates and Betz (1993 Anat. Rec., 236:381-389) of the s patial distribution of two different populations of muscle fibers in t he lumbrical muscle of the rat is discussed. The conclusion that muscl e fibers belonging to a single motor unit are distributed at random in most muscles appears to need reconsideration. A new technique is appl ied to some examples to show that the amount of clustering of fiber ty pes in a muscle cross section can be quantified. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.