Basis of Basic Reflexive De-afferentation Technology and Techniques

What is the Golgi tendon reflex?

From Wikipedia

The Golgi tendon reflex is a normal component of the reflex arc of the peripheral nervous system. In a Golgi tendon reflex, skeletal muscle contraction causes the muscle to simultaneously lengthen and relax. This reflex is also called the inverse myotatic reflex, because it is the inverse of the stretch reflex. Though muscle tension is increasing during the contraction, alpha motor neurons in the spinal cord supplying the muscle are inhibited. However, antagonistic muscles are activated.

Contents  [hide] 1 Function 2 Contrast to stretch reflex 3 Steps 4 Pathology 5 See also 6 References

[edit]Function

The Golgi tendon reflex protects the skeletal muscle from excessively heavy loads by causing the muscle to relax and drop the load.^{[citation needed]} First, as a load is placed on the muscle, the afferent neuron from the Golgi tendon organ fires into the central nervous system. Second, the motor neuron from the spinal cord is inhibited via an IPSP and muscle relaxes.

[edit]Contrast to stretch reflex

The stretch reflex operates as a feedback mechanism to control muscle length by causing muscle contraction. In contrast, the tendon reflex operates as a feedback mechanism to control muscle tension by causing muscle relaxation before muscle force becomes so great that tendons might be torn. Although the tendon reflex is less sensitive than the stretch reflex, it can override the stretch reflex when tension is great, making you drop a very heavy weight, for example. Like the stretch reflex, the tendon reflex is ipsilateral. The sensory receptors for this reflex are called tendon Golgi receptors, which lie within a tendon near its junction with a muscle. In contrast to muscle spindles, which are sensitive to changes in muscle length, tendon organs detect and respond to changes in muscle tension that are caused by passive stretch or muscular contraction.

[edit]Steps

A tendon reflex operates as follows:

1. As the tension applied to a tendon increases, the Golgi tendon organ (sensory receptor) is stimulated (depolarized to threshold).
2. Nerve impulses (action potentials) arise and propagate into the spinal cord along a sensory neuron.
3. Within the spinal cord (integrating center), the sensory neuron activates an inhibitory interneuron that makes a synapse with a motor neuron.
4. The inhibitory neurotransmitter inhibits (hyperpolarizes) the motor neuron, which then generates fewer nerve impulses.
5. The muscle relaxes and relieves excess tension.

[edit]Pathology

The clasp-knife response is a stretch reflex with a rapid decrease in resistance when attempting to flex a joint. However, it is actually thought to be caused by the tendon reflex of the antagonistic muscle of that joint, which gets extended.^[1] It is one of the characteristic responses of an upper motor neuron lesion.

[edit]See also

• Reflex action
• Reflex arc
• Muscle spindle
• H-reflex
• Motor control
• Stretch Reflex

[edit]References

1. ^ musom.marshall.edu - SPINAL REFLEXES